New Delhi, April 21
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit the USA this July as suggested by President George W Bush, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has decided in principle, Prime Minister’s Media Adviser Sanjaya Baru told The Tribune this evening.

The specific dates of the visit will be worked out early next week after the Prime Minister returns from his Indonesia visit, a Ministry of External Affairs official said. The visit may happen in the latter half of July.

The decision to go ahead with the US visit has been taken by the Prime Minister on the basis of inputs received by External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh who returned from his brief bilateral visit to the USA last week.

During this visit, Mr Natwar Singh had substantive talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and also met Mr Bush. The US President told Mr Natwar Singh that he was keen on meeting the Indian Prime Minister in July.

Before Mr Natwar Singh’s visit to the USA, New Delhi did not see much need for the PM’s bilateral visit to the US because Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Bush are likely to meet on the margins of multilateral visits to Russia (in May) and Scotland for G-8 Plus Three Summit (in July). But Mr Natwar Singh’s last week’s visit to the US has put to rest all speculations on whether or not the PM will be travelling to Washington.

The first-ever meeting of the Indo-US Energy Dialogue is expected to take place before July. A senior US government functionary is expected to arrive here next month to fasten the nuts and bolts of the Energy Dialogue mechanism.

Apart from focussing on giving a new direction to the Strategic Partnership between India and the US, the Prime Minister’s visit to Washington will focus on defence-to-defence ties as well with the proposed American offer of selling F-16s high on the agenda.

Meanwhile, top American General, Lt-Gen Jeffrey B Kohler, who is the Director of Pentagon’s Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), today gave a detailed presentation to senior Indian Air Force and Ministry of Defence officials here on F-16 and F-18 fighter aircraft and informed the Indians of the basic capabilities of both types of aircraft.

Gen Kohler said at a select briefing this evening that the F-16 and F-18 fighters being offered to India were the latest versions and not “off-the-shelf” stock like those being supplied to Pakistan.

When asked by this correspondent whether Washington would consider selling the state-of-the-art F-35s — which are still at the drawing board stage— to India, General Kohler said during his interactions with IAF officials no such indications were given to him.