Obama hails Dr. Manmohan Singh; says India should be proud of him

In a rare gesture by a head of the country to his counterpart, US President Barack Obama hailed Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and said that India should be proud of him. "Dr. Singh led India to the zenith of an economic growth. He put India on the path of economic development even prior to becoming the Prime Minister. He is a marvellous and wise man", said Obama during the G-20 Summit in London. Obama also supported India on terrorism, economy and climate change.

Obama's appreciation for Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh may worry the Left and BJP, which were gunning for his head, saying he is the weakest-ever Prime Minister of India. Since Obama's statement just on the eve of 2009 General elections, it may have some impact on young people and intelligentsia of the country.

Both Obama and Dr. Manmohan Singh addressed the G-20 Summit in London and also held bilateral talks. Obama acknowledged that he talked about terrorism. He also assured India all kinds of support in its fight against terror. He admitted the Pakistan and Afghanistan have become epicentre of terrorism.

"Both India and America share common interests. We will work jointly to end terrorism. I expect Pakistan to expedite the 26/11 probe and bring the guilty to book as soon as possible", said Obama.

Dr. Manmohan Singh also held bilateral talks with the British PM Gordon Brown. Manmohan also talked to Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Medvedev and Japanese PM Taro Aso. He expressed pleasure that India will now become members of Financial Stability Forum as well as the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision.

Dr. Manmohan Singh said that India is keen to improve bilateral ties with Pakistan. But that will be possible only when Pakistan agrees to the minimum pre-condition that Pakistan should not allow its soil to be used for terrorism.
source;phttp://www.breakingnewsonline.net

Obama calls for Indo-Pak talks, PM links it to terror

US President Barack Obama called for a dialogue process between India and Pakistan but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that a “minimum pre-condition” was that Islamabad should not allow its soil to be used to promote terrorism.

Asked after their first substantive meeting, that lasted an hour, whether India was willing to talk with Pakistan on Kashmir, the Prime Minister said: “We are willing to discuss bilaterally all the issues that bedevil the two countries. This cannot proceed if hundreds of people die like they did in the Mumbai attack.”

Describing their first meeting as one “marked by exceptional warmth and cordiality”, Singh said, “We have a global strategic partnership with the US. We both are agreed to further strengthen our relationship and make it more productive in diverse fields.”

Singh said they discussed international efforts required to deal with terrorism emanating from India’s neighbourhood, adding: “We had a significant convergence of views and approaches in this regard

Later at a packed press conference, Obama, describing the Prime Minister as a “wise and decent man” said, “We are extra concerned about terrorism and not simply terrorism emanating from Pakistan.”

Obama said he and Singh discussed how the two could coordinate more broadly to counter terrorism. Advocating greater dialogue between India and Pakistan, Obama said, “In the nuclear age, when the greatest enemy of India and Pakistan should be poverty, it makes more sense to create dialogue between the two.”

At a separate press conference, Singh, whom UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown requested to speak at the banquet dinner on Wednesday night immediately after Obama’s address to the Group of 20 leaders, said that he had thanked Obama for what he had done to make possible the transformation of India-US relations, and to bring to fruition the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Singh had strong words for Pakistan and said he expected it to do all that is required to bring culprits of the Mumbai Terror attack to book. “We have given them all the evidence. The ball is in the court of Pakistan. It has to convince us that it is absolutely sincere in its statements that its territory is not used for promoting acts of terror,” he said.
source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/obama-calls-for-indopak-talks-pm-links-it-to-terror/442551/

Obama, Singh Agree to Step Up Cooperation in Battling Terrorism

U.S. President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed to intensify cooperation to combat terrorism in South Asia.

Obama told reporters after yesterday’s talks in London that he and Singh discussed “terrorism emanating from Pakistan” and how they can “coordinate effectively on issues of counterterrorism,” according to a transcript.

Obama also raised the idea of easing tensions between Pakistan and India through a “more effective dialogue.” Singh said Pakistan must bring to justice the people responsible for attacks on Mumbai in November before peace talks between the neighbors can resume, Indian state-run broadcaster Doordarshan reported on its Web site.

Pakistan acknowledged in February its territory was used to plot the raid on Mumbai and said it has charged eight people. The 60-hour assault by heavily armed militants on India’s financial hub killed 166 people and injured 304.
source:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=a9VhfzZBZ4Wo&refer=india

India ordered a pause in its five-year peace process with the government in Islamabad after the attack, which it blamed on Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The Obama administration is aiming to revive the talks.

“To lessen tensions between two nuclear-armed nations that too often teeter on the edge of escalation and confrontation, we must pursue constructive diplomacy with both India and Pakistan,” Obama said March 27 as he announced his government’s plan for tackling terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

On the same day, Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it was important to defuse tensions on the Kashmir border, so Pakistan can step up its fight against militants in the borderlands with Afghanistan.

Kashmir, a divided region claimed by India and Pakistan, triggered two of the three wars the nations have fought since independence from Britain in 1947.

The flashpoint has forced Pakistan to maintain a two-front military strategy that is diverting troops from fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda, Mullen told Pentagon reporters.

Obama hails 'historic' G20 summit

Barack Obama has hailed the G20 summit as an historic turning point in the pursuit of world economic recovery.

Leaders pledged new spending and tougher financial regulations, in what the US leader called an unprecedented set of actions to ease the crisis.

He now heads to Strasbourg for talks with the French and German leaders, before a Nato summit begins.

Security is extremely tight in the city, with tens of thousands of troops and police deployed.

On Thursday police clashed with protesters, firing tear gas and rubber bullets to stop a crowd getting to the city centre.

Masked protesters smashed bus shelters and set fire to rubbish bins. French news agency AFP reported around 100 arrests.

Nato talks

Speaking at a news conference in London late on Thursday, Mr Obama said that the G20 leaders had agreed "unprecedented steps to restore growth and prevent a crisis like this from happening again

They pledged a total of $1.1 trillion (£681bn) in funding to tackle the crisis, including $750bn to the International Monetary Fund, $250bn to boost global trade and $100bn for international development banks to lend to the poorest countries.

Leaders also agreed to introduce tougher financial regulations and sanctions against secretive tax havens.

Representatives from the developing world welcomed the outcome.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told the BBC's Newsnight programme that rich countries had engaged with emerging nations on "equal terms" to achieve a good result.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy - who had threatened to walk out of the meeting if it did not yield concrete gains - said that the conclusions were "more than we could have hoped for".

He will meet Mr Obama for one-to-one talks on Friday, after which the US leader will cross into Germany for a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Then the focus will turn to Nato and the 60th anniversary summit that is being hosted jointly by France and Germany.

Leaders will gather for a working dinner in the German city of Baden Baden on Friday night before the main talks on Saturday.

The US president expected to use the opportunity to build support for his new strategy for Afghanistan.

More troops are needed certainly, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus, but above all the Americans want to see their allies stumping up a good deal more money and more training teams to build Afghanistan's own security forces.
source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7980558.stm