Obama to visit Mumbai, Amritsar during India tour

New York: US President Barack Obama is all set to visit India this November and it promises to be an action-packed tour.

Interestingly even though Mumbai, Delhi and Punjab are on the list of cities he would visit, India's IT cities are not there.

In Delhi the US President would have official meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pratibha Patil and would address both Houses of Parliament.

Then he moves to Mumbai, where he is likely to stay at the Taj and pay homage at the sites of 26/11 attacks. Obama would further address the nation on terrorism and cooperation with India.

Obama would also visit organic farms at Pinglewara, near Amritsar in Punjab and speak at a school that showcases Indo-US educational ties.

He is also scheduled to visit the Golden Temple.

"More than anyone else, it is Prime Minister Singh who has led the way in building our partnership," Burns said conveying the greetings of the US Government on the conferment of the 2010 World Statesman Award by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation on Manmohan Singh.

The promise of India-US partnership "looms bright and unmistakable" ahead of President Barack Obama's historic India visit, says a senior US official praising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his role in forging the relationship.

"As President Obama prepares for a historic state visit to India later this autumn, the promise of our partnership, built on strong bipartisan foundations in both our countries, looms bright and unmistakable," said Under Secretary of State William Burns.

"History will also mark with special significance Prime Minister Singh's personal contributions to the emerging partnership between the world's oldest and largest democracies, America and India," Burns said.

"India's rise may be as consequential for international order, the future of the global economy and the promotion of human values as any other development in the new century unfolding before us, he said.

"Without any doubt, India's rise is deeply in the interests of the United States, and our stake in India's success grows more apparent as each day passes," Burns said.

Lauding Manmohan Singh's role, the official said, "He championed the historic civil nuclear agreement between us. His economic policies helped produce India's rise within our new G-20 world, and helped produce a doubling of US-India bilateral trade in just a few years.

"His promotion of closer educational links between us has borne tangible fruit; today there are 100,000 Indian students in the United States, more than from any other country.

"And Prime Minister Singh's advocacy of cooperation in high technology and science led to the recent launch of India's first unmanned lunar probe, which carried a NASA payload and discovered the presence of water molecules on the moon," he noted.

"Inspired and shaped by Prime Minister Singh's vision, US-India relations today offer a rare case in which even the sky is not the limit for our ambitions or our possibilities," Burns said.

Expressing the "deep feeling of respect and appreciation that all of us have" for Manmohan Singh Burns said, "The example of tolerance and decency and wisdom set by Prime Minister Singh will long endure, and let us all draw strength and inspiration from that extraordinary example for many years to come."

(With inputs from IANS)