President Barack Obama will welcome Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the White House on November 24 for the first state visit of his presidency, his office said Friday.
In an indication of Obama's hopes to build relations between the world's two largest democracies, the US president and his wife, Michelle, planned to host a state dinner that same evening for Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the Obama administration regards India as one of Washington's few global partners.
The visit "will highlight the strong and growing strategic partnership between the United States and India, and the friendship between the American and Indian people," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.
During Singh's stay the two leaders were expected to discuss global, regional and bilateral issues, as well as progress on a strategic dialogue Washington and New Delhi launched in July to discuss nuclear proliferation, climate change and international trade liberalization.
The Obama administration has said it is committed to a controversial landmark agreement on civil nuclear cooperation sealed last year under former president George W. Bush.
Both the Obama and Bush administrations argued the agreement carries appropriate safeguards even though nuclear-armed India has refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In July, the United States struck deals to pave the way for billions of dollars in exports of civilian nuclear reactors and military hardware to India.
Climate change was also likely to loom large during the meeting as expectations dwindle ahead of December talks in Copenhagen to hammer out a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, whose obligations on emission cuts expire at the end of 2012.
India, like fellow developing giant China, has pledged action against climate change but said that only wealthy nations should be obligated to cut emissions by a quantifiable target under the next treaty.
Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh earlier called on the developed world to be "less evangelical" and for the developing world to be "less polemical" ahead of the climate change talks.
Obama, who has already met with a slew of foreign leaders at the White House, first invited Singh to visit Washington during a phone call in May.
The invitation was personally conveyed to the prime minister by US National Security Adviser James Jones during a trip to New Delhi at the end of June.
The US president "looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Singh to Washington and working with him to strengthen and enhance their partnership for the benefit of the people of both nations, and the world," Gibbs said.
India and the United States had uneasy relations during the Cold War when New Delhi tilted toward the Soviet Union. Relations began to warm at the end of Bill Clinton's presidency, after a row over India's nuclear tests in 1998.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Obama to receive Indian PM
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