Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said he was not going to the US this month with a "begging bowl" but to apprise the American leadership of "India's aspirations".
Speaking to accompanying journalists late on Wednesday en route to a G-8 summit at Gleneagles in Scotland, Manmohan Singh said he was going to Washington for talks with US President George W Bush on July 18 to convey a "better understanding of our case" and to discuss energy security, among other issues.
He said he was not going there to negotiate any deals.
Describing some media reports on Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Washington as "wide off the mark", Manmohan Singh said the recent framework agreement with the US on defence issues was in the interest of both countries.
"We have not surrendered any of our sovereignty on it," he asserted. On a question regarding US opposition to the pipeline to carry Iranian gas to India via Pakistan, the Prime Minister said: "It is a matter between Indian, Pakistan and Iran and no other country has any role in this."
Manmohan Singh will visit the Scottish resort of Gleneagles on Thursday to attend the G-8 summit where India is a special invitee.
He will also receive an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Oxford University, on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}He will also receive an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Oxford University, on Friday.
{{/usCountry}}The prime minister will deliver an address at the university where he earned a D.Phil in economics in 1957 from Nuffield College. Manmohan Singh read at Oxford after earning a first class honours in economics from Cambridge.
Manmohan Singh will also inaugurate the 75th anniversary of India House, the grand central London building that houses the Indian High Commission.
He returns to New Delhi on Saturday.