Obama, Singh may have opportunities to meet later this year:WH

From Lalit K Jha
Washington, Sep 17 (PTI) The White House expects meetings
between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh at different fora later this year, but has ruled out any
bilateral talks between them next week in New York where they
would attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly.
"We don't have any bilateral meetings planned at this
point," US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told
reporters while briefing them on Obama's agenda in New York.
"I think that it is our expectation that the President
will be able to see -- in his travels later this year,
including to the East Asia Summit and other forums, he'll have
opportunities to engage with Prime Minister Singh," Rhodes
said last evening.
Obama would be travelling to New York for three days next
week beginning Monday to attend the General Assembly session
of the United Nations.
Besides addressing the UN General Assembly, Obama would
be meeting leaders of some countries.
Prominent among them are Libya's Mustafa Abdul Jalil;
Afghan President Hamid Karzai; Brazilian President Dilma
Rouseff; Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Prime
Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan; Prime Minister David Cameron
of the United Kingdom, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and
President Salva Kiir of South Sudan.
While the focus of his meetings and his remarks at the UN
will be pressing global issues like Libya, Palestine,
economic matters and the Middle East, the US President is
expected to reiterate his position on the reforms of the UN
Security Council and support India's bid for its permanent
membership.
"There's been no evolution in the US position. We
obviously have expressed our support for permanent membership
for India...," Rhodes said.