Political crisis prompts Obama to cancel B'lore visit

The United States Embassy in New Delhi is understood to have sent a note to the president's office in Washington on Tuesday asking for cancellation of his proposed visit to the city citing recent political developments.

According to highly placed sources in the Union government, the United States Administration had all but agreed for a three-hour visit of the president to Bangalore. He was to first visit the Electronic City and then Narayana Hrudayalaya.

However, the president's itinerary as on Tuesday stated that he would land in Mumbai on the night of November 5 and would stay at the Taj Hotel, which was one of the targets of the terrorists on November 26, 2008, attacks on the city.

He would meet families of those fallen victims to the terror attacks the next day and would address the meeting of Indo-American business leaders. After flying to Amritsar on November 7 to visit the Golden Temple, Obama would land in the national capital that afternoon.

During his two-day stay in New Delhi, he would spend time at the United States embassy meeting Indians benefited by American scholarships and would take part in activities planned by the embassy.

Obama's official engagements in the capital would begin on November 8 with a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

He would also address the joint session of the Parliament, followed by delegation-level talks in which a few agreements are expected to be signed.

The president's engagement would end with a banquet hosted for him at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on the same evening and he would leave for Indonesia that night.