Obama, Dr Singh may hold meet at G-20 summit

The possibility of a meeting between United States President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the G-20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, is not being ruled out, days after the two leaders agreed to work together to address the faltering global economy and the painful Eurozone crisis.

Dr Singh, who will be participating at the seventh Summit of the Group of 20 developed and developing countries (G-20), has an impressive array of bilateral meetings lined up with world leaders during the two-day deliberations taking place in this Mexican coastal resort against the backdrop of problems afflicting the 17-nation Eurozone.

When asked whether there will be a bilateral meeting between Obama and Dr Singh, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters that though nothing has been scheduled, there could be a pullaside meeting.

Dr Singh and Obama share an excellent bonhomie, with the President often turning to the economist-turned politician for advice on economic issues.

Dr Singh is due to hold bilateral meetings with the host country President Felipe Calderon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian and British Premiers Stephen Harper and David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It will be the first meeting between Dr Singh and Hollande after the latter dethroned Nicolas Sarkozy in the recent Presidential elections.

As the current Chair of the five-nation BRICS bloc, Dr Singh will also hold an interaction with the leaders of the grouping, including Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Besides India and China, the other members of the bloc are Brazil, Russia and South Africa.

Obama telephoned Dr Singh last Thursday, during which the two leaders agreed to work to make the Los Cabos summit a success.