United States President Barack Obama may visit the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, in Amritsar during his visit to India in November.
"We are confident that after Obama's visit to the Golden Temple, the US residents would get to know about Sikhs and Sikhism in a better way," said Dr Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education.
"This visit will help remove misunderstandings about Sikhs in America and many of the difficulties Sikhs face due to mistaken identity and security barriers," Dr Singh said, adding that it was in July this year that he in a letter to the White House proposed the idea of the President visiting the holiest shrine of Sikhism.
"Obama's visit will be a wonderful gesture since it is a symbol of interfaith understanding. The foundation stone of the temple was laid by a Muslim saint and constructed by Hindus and Sikhs and visited by people of all faiths from all over the world. Punjab shares 370 miles of border with Pakistan and it will be a powerful message by the President to the entire South Asia," Dr Singh had said in his letter to the White House.
"President Obama's visit will hopefully begin an era of peace and harmony. It will show that President Obama has deep respect for Eastern faith traditions and their role in bringing people together," he said.
This shows America's respect for all faiths and traditions," he said. "Sikhs are grateful that President Obama has spoken about the rights of all minorities, including Sikhs, throughout his political career".
"He demonstrated his kindness by hosting an event marking the first ever celebration of the birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, founder of Sikhism, at the White House," Dr Singh said.
"We, as Sikhs, extend our help in achieving President Obama's goal of making America strong during this challenging time," he said.
