Palin’s India

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s planned visit to India in March is raising eyebrows in U.S. political circles.

Palin, who is widely considered a frontrunner for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, is set to deliver a closing keynote speech titled, “My Vision of America,” at the India Today 2011 conclave on “The Changing Balance of Power” in New Delhi,

Other speakers at the high-powered event include Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Egyptian opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei and feminist writer Germaine Greer.

Previous conclaves have featured speakers such as former U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Gen. Colin Powell. Tickets for the two-day event are priced at Rs. 85,000 ($1,850).

Andrew Cline, editorial page editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader, the largest newspaper in the state that holds the nation’s first presidential primary, mocked Palin’s planned India visit in a blog titled “Palin going for the outsourced labor vote?”

He wrote: “I know, presidential candidates like to travel abroad to boost their foreign policy credentials. And Palin needs those credentials badly. But I find it hard to believe that, presumably less than a year from the primary, someone who makes a trip to India a higher priority than a trip to New Hampshire is a serious presidential candidate. Chalk this up as one more bit of evidence that she’s probably not running.”