Obama To Skip Amritsar In His India Tour

[kdsingh80]

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/obama-to-skip-amritsar-in-his-india-tour/133313-2.html?from=tn

Washington: Barack Obama will not visit Amritsar during his India tour said sources. The US President will only visit Delhi and Mumbai in his November tour.

Sources said, security at the Golden Temple is an issue, it’s too exposed and maybe that is the reason Obama wants to skip the city of Amritsar when he visits India.

Sources informed that the US President will not travel to Amritsar during his next month's visit to India due to "logistic" issues.

Obama, who will arrive in Mumbai on November 6, will directly come to Delhi now after a day's stay in the commercial capital of the country. Earlier, he was to fly to Amritsar from Mumbai for a brief visit to the Golden Temple.

It is not clear yet what "logistic" issues have cropped up but there have been reports that Obama's team was facing a ticklish question of what the President should use to cover his head while visiting the Golden temple.

According to some reports, the White House team, which visited India last month, had ruled out Obama wearing the traditional scarf to cover his head, which they felt may convey an image of him appearing to be a Muslim, a

misinterpretation which the team would like to avoid.

Americans have not yet formally informed India about this change but it is expected that they will do so in due course.

Obama’s visit it is aimed at marking achievements in areas of technology, innovation and trade besides defence and security, according to a senior official.

The technology theme was related to "India's economic rise", inclusive growth was intended "to help lift millions of Indians out of poverty" and defence, security aimed to demonstrate "our support for India's growing global role and influence", Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake had said.

(With inputs from PTI)