Pranab, Clinton set Obama visit agenda
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee met US secretary of state Hillary Clinton here to firm up agenda of President Barack Obama’s early November visit to India, which he has termed would be the “defining moment” for the relationship between the two countries.
The Mukherjee-Clinton meeting held at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of US State Department lasted for about 30 minutes, during which the Obama visit — a few weeks from now — dominated the major part of the talks. The two leaders also discussed bilateral issues and ways to strengthen Indo-US economic ties. “It (Obama visit) will not only be important outstanding visit. It would also, as the President himself pointed out that it would be a defining moment in history. It can’t be categorised in one, two, three, four items,” Mr Mukherjee said just before he met Ms Clinton.
“Let me mention how delighted I am at the prospect of welcoming President Obama to India next month. We recall his hospitality to India last November, when our Prime Minister was made the first state guest,” he said while delivering the inaugural Woodrow Wilson Center and FICCI annual lecture series.
“President Obama had said that the US-India partnership would be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century. I share this sentiment and that our country is ready to take this friendship forward.”
Mr Mukherjee also expressed hopes that President Obama’s visit will strengthen cooperation between and lay out a vision for a strategic partnership. “The overall message would be that the two large democracies of the world are coming together to convey the message that in democracy there should be diversity and we should not oppose diversity, we should celebrate diversity. I do hope that President Obama’s visit to India will convey to the world that message very clearly and distinctly,” he said.
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