Indo-Pak tension to figure high in talks.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The escalating border tension between India and Pakistan and Indo-US bilateral trade and investment will figure prominently on the agenda when India’s Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh meets President Barack Obama on September 27th at the White House.
Singh and Obama have formed a rapport since the former’s visit here in 2009, when he was feted at the White House and the subsequent visit by Obama to India in 2010. Singh will also attend the UN General Assembly in New York next month.
Singh’s visit to the White House this year has been on the cards for a while, but the date was confirmed today after India’s national security adviser Shivshankar Menon met with his counterpart Susan Rice, here, today.
Although full details were forthcoming, the two also discussed the situation in Afghanistan.
At a later press conference held at the Indian Embassy today, Menon said that he feels confident the proper groundwork has been laid for Singh’s visit next month.
Although he hesitated to say exactly what the visit would consist of since it had not yet been fully planned out, he had this to say: “In terms of substance it’s going to be a good visit. I will now go back [to India] and try to do what we have to do at home.”
Menon reiterated his firm belief in the importance of US-India relations.
“There are 32 separate dialogues going on between the US and India at present,” he said. “I can’t answer for other people’s expectations, but from where I’m sitting, [US and India] are doing much more together than they have in the past.”
Menon said that the issue of immigration was not talked about in great detail, during his talks with US officials.