What Mr and Mrs Obama told Krishna

President Barack Obama has told visiting External Affairs Minister S M Krishna that he is eagerly looking forward to his maiden visit to India in November this month.

Highly placed sources said that the President, who met Krishna during a reception for heads of state and government at the Metropolitan Museum in New York late Thursday evening, personally conveyed the message about his upcoming trip to India during the brief photo-op and handshake opportunity.

"The First Lady Michelle Obama, who was standing next to the President, said that she too was excited about the upcoming trip to India," the sources said.

Krishna was one of the select few foreign ministers who were invited to the Obama reception for heads of state and government.

"What it signifies is that India is very much in the President's mind and it has registered well," the sources said, adding, "Obviously, India has figured up in his priorities."

Earlier in the day during his address to the UN General Assembly Obama mentioned in his speech about his travel plans to India.

"I will visit India, which peacefully threw off colonialism and established a thriving democracy of over a billion people," the President said.

Krishna, while standing outside the museum for his car to get back to his hotel, ran into his Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The two foreign ministers might possibly have a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UNGA.