Obama says will visit India in November

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said on Thursday he was "delighted" to announce that he will make his promised trip to India in early November, for the first time specifying a date for the visit.

The president was invited to make the trip by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he visited Washington for a state visit last year.

"I am delighted to announce tonight that I plan to visit India in early November," Obama said, at a reception at the State Department marking the inaugural India-US Strategic Dialogue.

Obama is also expected to travel to South Korea in November for the G20 summit and to Japan for the APEC summit.

But there is speculation that he might be forced to delay a currently scheduled trip to Indonesia and Australia this month, as he battles to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.