In the clearest indication that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with US President, Barack Obama, the visiting US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met with Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh to chalk out the path for the forthcoming Strategic Dialogue as well as Prime Minister’s Summit meeting with President Obama.

The discussions centred on all aspects of India-US bilateral relations, particularly economic engagement. “The two senior diplomats also exchanged views on a variety of regional and international issues including the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan,” sources indicated.

The Prime Minister is expected to be in the United States in September this year to attend the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. During the trip, Modi is expected to also visit Washington for a meeting with President Obama.

India and the US have given enough signals in the recent past to indicate that they are keen to engage, move forward and get relations back on track. Modi spoke to President Obama on the day the results to the Lok Sabha elections were announced while Secretary of State John Kerry was the first foreign interlocutor to call on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Last month, sources had indicated that the focus during the next six months is going to be on a number of processes that have been pending for a while including a conversation on the commerce side.