Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may not meet US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Cannes on November 3-4 as New Delhi wants the meeting pushed to the upcoming East Asia Summit in Bali later this month. It is now understood that the two leaders will not meet at Cannes as earlier desired by New Delhi after Obama snubbed Singh by refusing to give him an audience in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month. A meeting between the two leaders is crucial in arresting the drift in the Indo-US ties that has emerged over the past one year vis-a-vis the nuclear liability Bill and the defence contracts and investments.
In New Delhi wants the meeting to be held in Bali to stress the country's growing role in the South-East and East Asian region amid rising Chinese assertiveness. Besides meeting Obama, Singh is also likely to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao at Bali. Sources said India wanted meetings with the US and Chinese presidents on the same occasion. "If the PM met Hu without meeting Obama in Bali it would not have sent a proper message for India's growing role in South-East and East Asia," an official said. The PM will also be visiting Singapore on his way back from Bali to attend the India-ASEAN Summit. Earlier in July, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton had called for a more assertive role by India in the East Asian region. Clinton, during a visit to India for the second round of strategic dialogue, had said that as the world's leading democracies, the US and India have common interests and values in Asia, including safeguarding sea lanes and promoting democracy and human rights - issues where Washington and Beijing have differed.
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