Washington: US President Barack Obama along with Vice President Joe Biden and several of his Cabinet ministers are all set for a high-level engagement with the Indian leadership in a series of meetings later September.
This would be the highest level of engagement between the two countries after Obama's trip to New Delhi in January to attend the Republic Day parade as the chief guest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Obama and Modi are expected to meet in New York on September 28.
While no official announcement has been made yet, the proposed meeting itself is a reflection of the seriousness and commitment of the two leaders to this bilateral relationship.
On a day, which is said to be one of the busiest days for the US President given his address to the UN General Assembly on the first day of the annual session, Obama's schedulers had a tough time in creating space for his meeting with Modi.
Modi, on the other hand for all practical purpose would be taking an overnight flight although it would be Air India One - from Silicon Valley on September 27 after addressing the Indian-Americans at the SAP Center in San Jose to be back to Big Apple for his likely meeting with Obama, sources said.
Notably in the January joint statement, the two leaders had committed themselves for a more regular meeting.
Modi-Obama meeting in New York would cap more than a week of high level India-US engagement - most of which would be held in Washington DC, the sources said.
It is learnt that Vice President Biden is himself keen to be part of this highest level of India-US engagement. It was Biden who, during his visit to India a few years ago, had set the ambitious goal of increasing the bilateral trade from the current USD 100 billion to USD 500 billion per annum.
It is in this backdrop, it might not be surprising that Biden is seen taking a lead once again when it comes to the economic dimension of the India US relationship.
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