Obama to address parliament

US president Barack Obama is expected to address a joint session of Parliament on November 9 during his first state visit to India. Saroj Nagi reports.

US president Barack Obama is expected to address a joint session of Parliament on November 9 during his first state visit to India.

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This will be a decade after one of his predecessors Bill Clinton addressed a jampacked Central Hall on March 22, 2000.

This honour was however denied to George Bush who visited New Delhi in 2006 as head of his state following stiff resistance from the Left parties which were backing the UPA government at that time.

To fit Obama into the parliamentary calendar, the winter session would be tied with his visit.

There is no word whether a similar gesture would be extended to other dignitaries who will be coming to New Delhi around that time. The list of visiting VVIPs includes Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and French president Nicolas Sarkozy.