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Bill Clinton to visit India by April-end

G Chandrasekhar in Washington

Former United States president Bill Clinton will visit India by the end of April as part of his fund-raising effort for the earthquake victims of Gujarat, a community newspaper, India Post, has reported, citing sources close to Clinton.

"Mr Clinton is very concerned about the situation in Gujarat. He was in India last year and loved it. He had said at that time that he wanted to go back," said Julia Payna, a spokesperson for the former president.

Boston-based political activist Ramesh Kapur, a managing trustee of the Democratic National Committee, said Clinton would like to visit Gujarat some time in April and is genuinely committed to help the victims.

Kapur had attended the meeting convened by Clinton in New York on February 9 to discuss the relief efforts.

The meeting was called after a telephonic talk with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Vinod Gupta, the Nebraska-based chief executive officer of a hi-tech company, said the former president and his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, are keen to take the lead in raising funds for the victims of the earthquake.

The newspaper also quoted sources to say that Clinton's efforts to raise funds for the quake victims could backfire on the Indo-American community since Republicans now control the White House, House of Representatives and Senate. Clinton jumping into the earthquake relief efforts could damage the chances of Indo-Americans securing more aid, they said, accusing the former president of trying to hijack the situation to further his wife's political career.

UNI

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