Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet US President Barack Obama at the White House on September 27, with a top Indian official saying groundwork has been done for a “very successful visit” to boost trade and defence ties.
National security adviser Shivshankar Menon and his US counterpart Susan Rice announced the “working visit” by Dr Singh after a meeting on Tuesday. Mr Menon also met US defence secretary Chuck Hagel to prepare for the visit.
“I leave confident that preparations are well under way and are headed in the right direction for a very successful visit by the Prime Minister,” Mr Menon told a group of Indian reporters at the conclusion of his six-day US trip, during which he met a host of top ranking US officials.
“It’s a working visit. It’s a short visit. But I think, in terms of the substance, it is going to be a good visit,” Mr Menon said.
Rest of the logistics of the trip is still being worked out, he said, adding the meeting will be followed by lunch.
“It (defence ties) could be (path breaking). It is still a work in progress. But it is significant. Because the basic idea behind it is to move from a buyer-seller situation to actually co-developing, co-producing various defence acquisitions.
And we do this together and that could involve technology transfer and working together at much higher levels of technology than we have so far,” Mr Menon said at the end of his six-day US trip.
Ms Rice told Menon that Obama was looking forward to his meeting with Dr Singh. At the meeting, Mr Menon and Ms Rice also reviewed the US-India strategic partnership.
“Rice reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to further expanding and strengthening our bilateral relationship, including economic and commercial ties,” US National Security spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said.
“This meeting follows the Prime Minister’s visit to Washington in 2009, and the President’s visit to India in 2010, and it will highlight India’s role in regional security and stability and provide an opportunity for the two leaders to chart a course toward enhanced trade, investment and development cooperation between the US and India,” Hayden said.