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 issues relating to 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 U.S. 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.
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 .
Ms. Banerjee said Mr. Roemer called on her in the wake of the Prime Minister's visit to the U.S. She also evaded questions on whether the issue of the Nuclear Liability Bill had cropped up during the course of their discussions.
Ms. Banerjee said Mr. Roemer raised several issues and sought her opinion on them, but she declined to elaborate. “Whatever opinion they ask we give,” she said.
