Obama hails US-India ties 'defining'
At the conclusion of about two hours of talks, Obama said he and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had agreed to "work even closer" on sharing information between law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Singh promised increased cooperation with Washington to battle terrorism.
Obama was quizzed about the tense relationship between India and Pakistan and said it was not the role of the United States to intervene and solve such problems. He said, however, that American should do what it can to ensure that Pakistan and India both feel secure and able to focus on developing their own countries for their own people.
On security, Obama said the US and India are natural allies.
"We both recognize that our core goal is to achieve peace and security for all peoples in the region, not just one country or the other," he said.
The two leaders glossed over a dispute about commitments to reduce greenhouse gases in advance of the next month's climate change summit in Copenhagen, but Obama said they had moved a "step closer" to a successful outcome.
Noting that the United States was India's largest trading partner, Obama said broadening trade ties would help create much needed jobs in both countries as governments continue trying to stimulate recession-hit economies.
In an elaborate welcoming ceremony earlier Tuesday, Obama showered praise on India and Singh, declaring it was only fitting the Indian leader should be the first state visitor of his administration.
Obama said the United States and India share the "bold experiments" of becoming democracies after breaking from rule by a colonial power, and in modern times both have known the pain of international terrorism; Kazinform cites China Daily.
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