White House says Mr. Obama would travel to Saudi Arabia and meet new Saudi king.
U.S. President Barack Obama has cancelled the Agra leg of his India visit, Agra District Magistrate has confirmed.
The President, who will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, was scheduled to visit the Taj Mahal with his wife, Michelle Obama, on January 27.
A statement from the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said: “The President regrets that he will be unable to visit Agra during this trip.” It added that Mr. Obama and the First Lady will travel to Riyadh on Tuesday to pay respects to King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the family of the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. “We adjusted the schedule in coordination with the Indian Government so that the President would be able to depart India following his speech on Tuesday to stop in Riyadh during the return trip…”, said the statement.
The Uttar Pradesh Government has been informally informed about the change of plans and the American security team has already left Agra.
Uttar Pradesh Principal Secretary Navneet Sehgal told the media that the American security team, which was camping in Agra to ensure an unprecedented security cover for the Obamas, has left the city.
Surprised and upset
Senior State officials camping in Agra were both surprised and upset at the cancellation of Mr. Obama’s visit.
“It’s possible that he might leave India earlier,” a government source said, adding that no reason had been given for the cancellation of the Agra visit.
Officials in the Agra administration told The Hindu on condition of anonymity that there were “certain differences” between the Indian security officials and the U.S. Security team.
Refusing to divulge more details, one of the officials said, “The security agencies from India and the US were not on the same page when it comes to certain minor details about Barack Obama’s visit to the Taj. But the cancellation of the visit is surprising.”
