White House yet to finalise Obama's schedule for India

New Delhi Oct. 21 (ANI): The White House has said that it still in the process of finalizing President Barack Obama's schedule for his visit to Asia, including India.

White House spokesman Robert Gibb when asked about Obama's schedule for India and other parts of Asia, said: "We pick sites on foreign trips based on what the President wants to accomplish. We've not finalized the schedule for Asia, including India, yet.

We hope to do that over the course of the next week."

He added: "We send advance people to many places in each country before we make decisions, in consultation with the host country, in this case the Indian government, about where to go".

"Look, it's a big country. We'd love to spend a lot more than the three allotted days that we have in India. This trip will focus our business on Mumbai and-in the cities of Mumbai and New Delhi. But we pick where we're going to go on trips based on what we hope to accomplish," Gibbs said further.

There was wide coverage of reports that Obama may skip Amritsar during his tour to India for logistical reasons.

On the other hand various Sikh bodies, including American Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (AGPC), United Sikhs, Sikhs for Justice, Sikh Coalition, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak committee (SGPC) requested Obama not to call off his visit to the Golden Temple during his visit to India.

During his three day visit to India Obama was to visit Amritsar on November 7 to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple and to interact with post-graduate students of Khalsa College. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)