Singh embarks on an overdue visit to Uzbekistan on May 18, where he is expected to call on Uzbek president Islam Karimov and conduct bilateral talks with his counterpart in the foreign office. From Tashkent (side visits to Samarkand and Bukhara are contemplated), he flies to Ashkabad, Turkmenistan on May 20 for a three day visit: besides a call on Turkmen president Saparmurad Niyazov and talks with the foreign office, Singh will also take stock at an Indian Heads of Mission conference, of those diplomats accredited to Central Asia, and perhaps Iran and Pakistan.

Singh then flies to Moscow on May 23, to begin talks with his counterpart Igor Ivanov the following day, on May 24. He will be in Moscow for two days,from where he flies onwards to Paris, France, to attend an OECD meeting on May 26.

Meanwhile, minister of state for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje is expected to undertake a visit to Oman next week. Foreign secretary K. Raghunath is also scheduled to fly to Paris for a day of bilateral talks, just before Singh lands in France. A return visit by the French team led by Gerard Errera, to conduct the ongoing ``strategic dialogue'' between New Delhi and Paris is expected in June.

The only likely incoming visit is the one next week by Canadian State Secretary Chan, the counterpart of Vasundhara Raje. No other heads of state/foreign ministers' trips are planned for the summer, with visitors presumably waiting for a new government to be installed before seriously conducting policy again.

No dates have been fixed for Singh's scheduled trip to China, but if this doesn't take place before July, he is bound to meet his counterparts -- including Chinese foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan -- on the sidelines of theAsean Regional Forum meet in Singapore in early July.

Diplomats in Delhi, besides complaining about the heat, also sound a bit tired with the changing political scenario. Just when New Delhi had seemed to be getting a grip on crucial relationships with its immediate and extended neighbourhood, including the Gulf and South-East Asia, the diplomats say, the polity seems to be in election mode again.