US vice president to arrive in India for visit

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will arrive in the Indian capital Monday evening for a four-day tour of this country. The visit came a couple of months ahead of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled visit to Washington to meet U. S. President Barack Obama. Biden will meet Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, the prime minister and other top political leaders, including Leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) Sushma Swaraj, during his stay in the national capital, sources said. "Issues like economic growth, trade, energy and climate change, security and investments in education will be on the agenda on his discussions with the top Indian leaders. It will be a kind of groundwork before Singh's visit to the United States in September- October," they said. During the last leg of his India tour, he will go to Mumbai where he will deliver a dialogue on the US-India partnership at the Bombay Stock Exchange, and he will also meet top business leaders of this country in the financial capital, the sources said. Biden's wife Jill, who will also be coming to India, will visit the iconic Taj Mahal monument in the northern Indian city of Agra, some 250 kms from the national capital. The U.S. Vice President will wrap up his tour on July 25 from Mumbai and take off for Singapore. "This trip will be an important opportunity to strengthen our partnerships within the region and reaffirm our commitment to re- balancing U.S. foreign policy towards the Asia-Pacific," the White House has said.