Obama, Singh may have opportunities to meet later this year:WH

Washington, Sep 17: The White House expects meetings between US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at different fora later this year, but has ruled out any bilateral talks between them next week in New York where they would attend the annual session of the UN General Assembly.

"We don't have any bilateral meetings planned at this point," US Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters while briefing them on Obama's agenda in New York.

"I think that it is our expectation that the President will be able to see -- in his travels later this year, including to the East Asia Summit and other forums, he''ll have opportunities to engage with Prime Minister Singh," Rhodes said last evening.

Obama would be travelling to New York for three days next week beginning Monday to attend the General Assembly session of the United Nations.

Besides addressing the UN General Assembly, Obama would be meeting leaders of some countries.

Prominent among them are Libya's Mustafa Abdul Jalil; Afghan President Hamid Karzai; Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff; Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan; Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and President Salva Kiir of South Sudan.

While the focus of his meetings and his remarks at the UN will be pressing global issues like Libya, Palestine, economic matters and the Middle East, the US President is expected to reiterate his position on the reforms of the UN Security Council and support India's bid for its permanent membership.

"There's been no evolution in the US position. We obviously have expressed our support for permanent membership for India...," Rhodes said.

PTI