Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet United States President Barack Obama in London on April 2 on the sidelines of the G-20 summit.
Dr Singh has accepted British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's invite to attend the summit to discuss a global deal to fight economic meltdown, sources in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said on Monday.
He will leave New Delhi on April 1 and will return on April 4, during which External Minister Pranab Mukherjee will officiate on his behalf, sources said. Sources said Dr Singh has recovered from the heart surgery he underwent and doctors have pronounced him fit to undertake the London trip.
They said the External Affairs Ministry is co-ordinating with US officials for the high-profile meeting. Foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon is already in Washington in this regard, besides discussing terrorism and nuclear deal.
The prime minister will focus on his talks with Obama on some of the measures initiated by the US administration to protect the US business -- like a drastic cutdown of outsourcing, removal of Indian and Third World employees from the US business houses.
Acknowledging Dr Singh as an economist of repute, the British prime minister wanted him to share his wisdom during the one-day G-20 summit. Sources said Dr Singh had been asked to focus in particular on the difficulties of developing countries and how he wants them protected by the developed world, already reeling under recession.
