L’Aquila (Italy) July 10 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama discussed bilateral relations, ways to enhancing partnership, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to India later this month and Pakistan’s situation.
During the G8+G5 Outreach Meet here, Dr Singh had a ”pull aside” meeting with Mr Obama and the two leaders spent considerable time discussing bilateral relations and how to take it forward, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told visiting Indian media delegation.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to India later this month also came up for discussion, he informed.
The two leaders briefly discussed the situation in Pakistan as well, he said.
Mr Menon said both leaders accepted each others’ invitation to visit their countries but no dates were finalised yet.
The two leaders would meet at Pittsburg in the US in September this year during the G20 Meeting, the meet of the Major Economies Forum.
The Prime Minister also extended an invitation to participate in the Conference on Climate Change Technologies Development to be held in India later this year.
Dr Singh had a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel where issues of mutual concern were discussed. He also had a ”pull aside” with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Yesterday, he met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the two leaders discussed having Joint Project for developing green technologies and taking a leadership position on climate change issue. They also discussed bilateral relations and extending cooperation in various matters.
Dr Singh would also hold bilateral meetings with leaders of Italy and Angola.
Notably, Ms Clinton would visit India in the third week of this month for two days during which she would hold discussions with the Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna.
Ms Clinton’s visit is an indicator to the progress made in the Indo-US relations as her first visit to the country as Secretary of State would serve as building blocks for the future of Indo-US relationship.
New Delhi is satisfied with the statements made by Ms Clinton about Indo-US relations during past few months.
–Agencies