Ambani, Premji among business leaders to meet Obama

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Wipro chief Azim Premji will meet US President Barack Obama today as part of the president's ongoing consultations with global business leaders in the backdrop of the global economic downturn.

Obama, who assumed office less than a month ago, is holding a meeting with  the `Business Council', a body of prominent business tycoons, today, in order to assess their views on ways of tiding over the present economic crisis.

`The Business Council', which works as an independent forum for exchange of ideas and development of positive and practical recommendations for action, has often been consulted by the US presidents in the past for decision-making.

The Council has 150 active members, selected on the basis of personal qualities and position as the CEO of leading private sector businesses.

India is represented in the `Business Council' by Mukesh Ambani, chairman of the country's largest private sector enterprise, and Asim Premji who is among the triads of the country's IT industry.

Mukesh and his wife Nita have left for the US on Wednesday and are expected to meet Barack Obama at White House for two hours on Friday morning. The couple will be joined by Premji.

Premji's meeting with Obama also gains importance in the wake of the President's stance against US companies outsourcing jobs. The IT industry in India has developed an indispensable work relation with the US.

The `Business Council' includes global business leaders like Dow Chem CEO Andrew Leveris, Delta Air Lines CEO Richard H Anderson, Motorola president Gregory Brown, Micheal Dell of Dell and BP's Tony Haward among others.