Former US deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott, who is currently accompanying his wife on a study tour of India, will visit Gujarat for three days.

At a meeting organised by the Reliance Industries-funded Observation Research Foundation in New Delhi on Monday evening, he said he wanted to assess the situation in Gujarat, where widespread riots took place following the attack on the Sabarmati Express in Godhra last year.

Yogendra Alagh, a well-known economist and resident of Ahmedabad who attended the meeting, said though the riots were unfortunate, many people outside Gujarat had misconceptions about what happened.

He offered Talbott help in understanding the truth about the Gujarat episode.

Currently Talbott is president of the Brookings Institution -- an 85-year-old public policy research organisation.

ORF wants to become the Brookings of India.