New Delhi, September 24
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will leave tomorrow on a visit to the US during which he will hold talks with President Barack Obama and attend UN General Assembly, besides having a meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

Implementation of the civil-nuclear deal, ways to expand cooperation in the fields of defence, security and economic issues will be high on the agenda for the Singh-Obama meeting to be held in Washington on September 27.

Some pacts, including a contract between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and US firm Westinghouse, are expected to be signed. At the meeting with Obama, their third since 2009, Manmohan Singh is expected to flag concerns over the proposed changes in the US visa norms affecting the highly skilled IT professionals from India.

Situation in this region, including Afghanistan after withdrawal of US-led forces next year, besides global issues like Syria are also expected to figure in the talks.

The two leaders are likely to discuss ways to give a push to cooperation in civil-nuclear and defence fields.

In the defence field, they are expected to look at the ways to convert the buyer-seller relationship into joint design, development and production.

The US recently said it wanted to replicate Russia and jointly build defence systems like Brahmos with India. In the area of security, the two sides will discuss cooperation in securing airports and ports. — PTI