US President Barack Obama will arrive in Mumbai today on a three-day visit to India. He will be accompanied by the largest-ever American business mission overseas. An unprecedented massive three dimensional security– land, air and water–has been put in place for the US President's visit to Mumbai. Thousands of personnel from US Secret Service, Indian Intelligence, anti-terror Force One commandos and local police have been deployed in the city for the purpose.Immediately after the Air Force One touches down at Mumbai airport this afternoon, Obama will fly to the 19th century icon of Indian hospitality Taj Hotel, the target of the26/11 terror attacks. The choice of Taj Hotel for his two-day stay in Mumbai, has been described by Obama as a “tribute to the resilience of the Indian people” and to underscore the shared commitment of the two countries to counter terrorism. He will pay his respects to the terror victims and sign the guest book.Obama will then visit the Gandhi Museum at Mani Bhawan to honour the memory of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. He will then attend a business summit organised by the US-India Business Council and participate in a roundtables with entrepreneurs and US CEOs.The US President will proceed for New Delhi tomorrow afternoon on the second and final leg of his visit.Obama, who is the sixth American president to visit India, will hold summit talks on Monday with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. The crucial issue of lifting restrictions on export control of high technology items to this country, India's quest for a permanent membership of theUN Security Council, counter-terrorism measures and a joint initiative on clean energy are expected to figure prominently during their talks. Obama will also address a joint session of Parliament on Monday evening. In his departure statement in Washington last evening, the US President said, he has set a goal of doubling America's exports over the next five years. Obama said, he is going to talk about opening up additional markets in places like India, so that American businesses can sell more products abroad to create more jobs at home. He said, every 1 billion US dollar increase in exports, thousands of jobs are supported in US. Admitting that US is in the middle of a tough fight to get its economy growing faster, businesses across the country can open and expand, so that people can find good jobs. This will help repair the terrible damage that was done by the worst recession in our lifetimes. He said it is encouraging to see that private-sector job growth maintained for 10 straight months. That means that since January, the private sector has added 1.1 million jobs.
News On AIR | November 6, 2010 8:42 AM
Obama arrives in Mumbai this afternoon