London sees red as Pranab cancels visit last minute

Mukherjee called off his entire UK visit that was to start today but will keep his date with the US.

The last-minute cancellation of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjees visit to the UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue has caused disappointment in London as a host of meetings had to be reorganised with little notice,including a meeting with top Chief Executive Officers (CEOs).

New Delhi has attributed the cancellation to domestic politics the governments deadlock on the Lokpal issue but this isnt the first time it has cited that reason. Earlier this month,Kapil Sibal called off a similar visit to London for a telecom conference as he was involved in talks with Baba Ramdev.

Mukherjee called off his entire UK visit that was to start today but will keep his date with the US,and is heading for Washington on Monday for a series of meetings under the India-US economic partnership dialogue. The US visit has been shortened but the Finance Minister will be in the US for two days and will meet top administration officials including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner,Fed Chairman Ben S Bernanke and top CEOs.

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The visit was seen as an opportunity for the government to clarify doubts that have clouded the India Story of late high inflation,slow growth,corruption,flight of capital.

While New Delhi has proposed to reschedule the UK visit for September,London has asked India to come up with a firm schedule.

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