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U.S. Speaker to visit India

Special Correspondent

Plans to visit Dharamsala

NEW DELHI: The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, will arrive here on Wednesday night to assess the situation in Tibet and discuss ties with the Indian leadership, including the civil nuclear deal.

On an India-exclusive visit, Ms. Pelosi will visit Agra and Mumbai. Sources said she might go to Dharamshala, the seat of the Dalai Lama’s “government-in-exile,” to meet the Tibetan leadership and ascertain the situation across the border.

Ms. Pelosi, considered among the dozen powerful Democrats in the U.S. Congress, is an outspoken critic of the Chinese government and recently issued a strong statement criticising the “crackdown” in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

Of greater importance to India would be her discussion with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday. Ms. Pelosi is a crucial element in New Delhi’s calculations to get the nuclear deal ratified by the U.S. Congress, especially in view of the tight timeline before the U.S. administration enters the lame duck phase in view of the Presidential polls.

The Democrat leader is also a keen observer of environmental issues. Her views are at variance with the current Republican-headed administration, which is opposed to voluntary reductions by developed countries of carbon emissions while leaving out developing countries from accepting any obligation for the time being.

India too does not agree with Washington’s prescription of all countries, developed and developing alike, of accepting quotas for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The previous visit by a U.S. Congress Speaker was in 2006 by her predecessor Dennis Hastert of the Republican Party. Ms. Pelosi is taking advantage of the Spring Recess to visit India.

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