Dr Singh to meet Obama in Sept

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to undertake a six-day visit to the United States from September 20, during which he will have a bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington, besides attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

This emerged from a 75-minute meeting that Dr Singh held with visiting US Vice President Joseph Biden, sources said.

Dr Singh and Biden discussed a whole range of issues, including implementation of the landmark civil nuclear deal and ways to enhance commerce, the sources said.

The two leaders agreed to take these issues forward.

In this context, the prime minister told Biden that he looks forward to meeting Obama in September, the sources said.

Singh will be undertaking the visit to the US from September 20. He will first travel to New York to attend the UNGA and then visit Washington for a bilateral summit with Obama, the sources said.

This will be Dr Singh's second visit to Washington for a bilateral visit during Obama's tenure. He had last traveled to the US capital on a bilateral visit in November 2009.

He had visited Washington again in April 2010 but it was to attend the Nuclear Security Summit.

Obama paid the reciprocal bilateral visit to India in November 2010.

During the meeting with Biden, Singh conveyed his best wishes to Obama.

Dr Singh and Biden also discussed regional and global issues, including the situation in Afghanistan. The US-led forces will be exiting Afghanistan next year and its fallout is a matter of concern for India.