Sarko coming on holiday, not work

French President Nicholas Sarkozy's forthcoming December visit to India is likely to be much play and little work.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy's forthcoming December visit to India is likely to be much play and little work.

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As of now it is not being billed as a state visit. It is primarily a vacation.

Having had a trying time at home in recent weeks, pushing through his pension reform plan in the teeth of furious street protests, and having taken up chairmanship of the G-20 on Friday, Sarkozy seems to have planned a romantic — if short — break in India with his wife, Carla Bruni, before he gets busy working with the International Monetary Fund on currency reforms.

Sarkozy and Bruni will arrive in Bangalore on December 4 and reach Agra the same evening. A visit to the Taj Mahal — perhaps a moonlit outing — is right on top of their places-to-visit list. They will stay overnight at the city's Amarvilas hotel. A trip to Fatehpur Sikri is also on the agenda.

"As of now, this is the plan. But in the past, his itinerary has changed at the last moment," cautioned a government official.

The President is expected to reach Delhi on December 5, attend events the next day and then move to Mumbai on December 7.