Key U.S. officials led by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will be visiting India next week against the backdrop of government taking a slew of reform measures such as permitting foreign investment in multi-brand retail and deciding to raise the FDI cap in insurance.
Mr. Geithner will be accompanied by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke besides others on a two-day visit, beginning October 9. They are scheduled to have several high-level meetings in New Delhi and Mumbai.
The U.S. officials would be meeting Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday in New Delhi and RBI Governor D. Subbarao on Wednesday in Mumbai.
The delegation is also likely to call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sources said.
The visit comes at a time when India has opened its lucrative multi-brand retail segment for foreign investments, a move welcomed by the American industry.
Both sides will also discuss the steps to deal with global economic slowdown and boost bilateral ties.
Later, the issues concerning international economic situation will be discussed at the International Monetary Fund-World Bank annual meetings in Tokyo next week, which, among others, will be attended by Mr. Chidambaram.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary will be interacting with Indian industry leaders at a session to be jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) in New Delhi on October 9.
There will also be a U.S.-India Economic Partnership Dialogue on the same day.
The next day in Mumbai, Mr. Geithner and other senior American representatives would be participating at the CEOs roundtable besides meeting entrepreneurs.