Obama will visit India soon: Roemer

NEW DELHI: United States President Barack Obama will visit India soon. The announcement was made by U.S. Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer during a brief interaction with journalists after calling on Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee here on Monday.

Mr. Roemer said he discussed a host of issues with Ms. Banerjee, as also India-U.S. relations. However, he declined to directly comment on whether he had specifically discussed the controversial Nuclear Liability Bill with the Minister.

The Ambassador remained closeted with Ms. Banerjee for over 40 minutes. Senior officials, including Railway Board Chairman S.S. Khurana, left the Minister's chamber after exchanging pleasantries, underscoring that they intended discussing more urgent matters.

Mr. Roemer's courtesy call on Ms. Banerjee comes ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington on April 12 and 13 to attend the Nuclear Security Summit convened by Mr. Obama.

Equally important is the fact that Parliament reconvenes after a recess on April 15.

“Good discussions”

Mr. Roemer said he had just paid a courtesy visit to Ms. Banerjee and his discussions with her were very good. He presented to her a copy of Mr. Obama's book, The Audacity of Hope.