Clinton to visit tsunami-hit TN village

Former US president Bill Clinton will arrive in India on May 25 on a three-day visit.

While the chief purpose of the visit is to review the relief and rehabilitation work in the tsunami-hit Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu, Clinton is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, a source at 10 Janpath, the Gandhi residence, told rediff.com.

Clinton may also meet former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

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The former US president will also attend a dinner hosted by Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, a source at Pawar's residence said.

Clinton will fly to Chennai on May 27 and visit Nagapattinam, where his Clinton Foundation has adopted a few villages for rehabilitation.

In February United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan had appointed Clinton to be the United Nations' point man for tsunami reconstruction.

His visit is being coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme.

Soon after the disaster, Clinton and former US president George H W Bush had visited southeast Asia to assess the damage. They also raised funds for the countries affected by the tsunami that struck the day after Christmas.

Nagapattinam District Collector J Radhakrishnan told rediff.com: "Clinton will visit one of the relief shelters here. He will also visit the NGO coordination centre at the collectorate."

The former president has had a special relationship with India. Clinton's India trip in 2002 was well-received as it was the first visit by an American president in 22 years.

It was during his presidency that the bilateral ties between the two countries improved.

Clinton revisited in 2003 but this time on a philanthropic mission. He visited Gujarat to get first hand information about the destruction caused by the earthquake, which killed thousands of people.