Packed schedule awaits Manmohan Singh at G20

SEOUL - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has a packed schedule here for the next two days as he not only attends the G20 Summit but also meets with a host of global leaders on the margins of the event.

Among them, he is expected to meet with US President Barack Obama for the second time in a week and the seventh such mutual engagement since the latter was inaugurated to the top post in Washington in January last year.

The prime minister’s engagements start with a bilateral meeting Thursday morning with his Ethiopian counterpart Meles Zenawi, an invitee to the G20 Summit, followed by another with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, officials said.

On the same day, Manmohan Singh also meets with British Prime Minister David Cameron, before attending the G20 working dinner for the leaders that has the central theme of “Shared Growth Beyond the Crisis”.

The prime minister is expected to call on his host, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, whom he had last met Oct 29 in Hanoi on the margins of the ASEAN Summit, and have a pull aside with Canadian Premier Stephen Harper Friday.

The Indian delegation includes Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who is the sherpa, or the key pointsperson, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla.

Manmohan Singh is expected to return to New Delhi late Friday.