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White House prepares for first state visit by Manmohan Singh | The Obama White House is preparing for its first full state visit when US President Barack Obama will host the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh. Singh's three-day state visit starting November
23 (Monday) is being seen in New Delhi as Obama's intention of sustaining a relationship
that deepened under his predecessor George W. Bush. Former US President Bill Clinton
started Washington's efforts to build ties with India nearly two decades ago.
These ties were furthered under the Bush administration, when it discussed and
inked a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with India between July
2005 and March 2008. For Obama to come up with something comparable will be difficult,
claims Lisa Curtis, a South Asian expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
"I think the civil nuclear deal was sort of a once in a generation agreement and
I doubt the Obama administration will have a similar kind of initiative, that
was groundbreaking, but I do think it is important that President Obama signal
that he intends to move that agreement forward," a foreign news agency quoted
her, as saying. An Indian daily report says Singh will be accorded a Guard of
Honour on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Tuesday. This honour
is seen as a reflection of the Obama presidency's commitment to India. His official
engagements will begin on Monday with an address to captains of industry at an
event jointly organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-India Business
Council. He will then deliver a lecture, jointly organized by the Council of Foreign
Relations, a conservative think tank, and the Woodrow Wilson Centre. Several top
American CEOs are expected to attend the event. The Prime Minister will thereafter
meet Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Nancy Pelosi. On Tuesday, delegation-level talks between Dr. Singh and President
Obama will be followed by a joint media interaction. This will be followed by
an interaction with CEOs after which Dr. Singh will leave for a lunch, hosted
by U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at the
State Department. On Tuesday evening, President Obama will host both Dr. Singh
and his wife Gursharan Kaur at an official banquet, which will also include an
entertainment program. Senior U.S. administration officials, including the Secretaries
of Defence, Treasury and Environment will call on the Prime Minister the next
day. Singh and Obama are expected to hold talks on issues ranging from curbing
carbon emissions - where the two sides are poles apart - to multi-billion dollar
defence contracts and speeding up the completion of a landmark civilian nuclear
deal formally signed last year. The success of the trip will be measured by whether
both leaders manage to dispel any doubts about Washington's commitment to New
Delhi in the South Asian region where it rivals China and Pakistan - both seen
as U.S. foreign policy priorities. Former Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns,
who is now an academic with Harvard University, is of the view that President
Obama will "need to put his stamp on this relationship". "He needs to signal to
the India, that despite the fact that he has been paying attention to other problems
recently, India is still important the US," he added. As far as U.S. strategy
for Afghanistan is concerned, Burns says: "The US does not want to choose between
Pakistan and India, but sometimes Indians and Pakistanis want us to chose." Analysts
see this first State visit as something of a test for Obama, who will hope to
build on the work of his predecessors, while also tackling some of the thorny
issues of the relationship, including trade as well as climate change. |
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