KEEN:

Bush likely to visit India this year (India Times, MARCH 15, 2005)

US President George Bush is expected to visit India either late fall or early winter, although there is no fixed date available yet, diplomatic sources say.

The sources, which spoke on strict background, said the US President is keen to visit India early in his second term rather than waiting for a later date. Bush is said to want to leave his stamp on bilateral relations with India, the sources said.

One of the main reasons why the timing of the presidential visit is going to be closely guarded is because of the "security concerns surrounding it."

Bush will be going into a region which is in close proximity to his biggest adversary, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The US would want to make it absolutely sure that the visit, whenever it comes, goes without any hitch.

"The visit will be in a way both culmination of processes now going on as well as mark a new beginning," one source said.

And quite a stamp it is.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 16, 2005 12:00 AM