US President Barack Obama on Sunday put the onus on India to start a dialogue with Pakistan as he feels India has the biggest stake in ensuring a secure and stable Pakistan. Answering questions at a American-style “town hall” meeting with students at Mumbai’s St. Xavier’s College, Mr Obama said India could start with the “less contentious issues ... and then go on to the more controversial issues”.
He also made it clear that the US would not “impose” itself on Indo-Pakistani relations. He said: “India and Pakistan can prosper and live side by side, this will not happen tomorrow ... but needs to be the ultimate goal. The US can be a partner but cannot impose this process. India and Pakistan have to arrive at their own understanding.”
Soon after that, Mr Obama flew in to New Delhi, where he and wife Michelle were received at the Palam Air Force Station by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur in the afternoon. The Prime Minister ignored protocol to receive the US leader personally.
In the evening, just before going in for dinner with the other guests at Dr Singh’s 7 Race Course Road residence, Mr Obama took a few minutes to have a private one-on-one conversation with the Prime Minister, in which they are understood to have taken stock of bilateral relations and discussed ways to strengthen the strategic partnership. The meeting lasted 50 minutes, sources said.
For his part, the Prime Minister is learnt to have shared his vision of India-US relations with Mr Obama. “The Prime Minister talked to Mr Obama about his 2020 vision on India-US relations,” a source said. Welcoming Mr Obama, the Prime Minister hoped the US President’s visit would help to build a perfect base for fruitful, long-term relations between the two countries.
The private meeting comes a day ahead of the delegation-level talks in which both sides are expected to announce a slew of decisions, including the adoption of a few agreements in areas like agriculture, education, health and clean energy. Contentious issues like Afghanistan and Pakistan are also expected to figure in the talks.
Mr Obama’s remarks about Pakistan in Mumbai came in response to a ques-
tion by a student on why Pakistan was so important to the US and why America never described it as a terrorist state.
In his reply, Mr Obama said: “Pakistan is an country of enormous strategic importance to the US and the world, a country whose people have enormous potential but it also has extremist elements. The Pakistan government is aware of this and we tried to engage aggressively with the Pakistan government. We want a stable, prosperous and peaceful Pakistan. We are working to eradicate extremism, which is a cancer that can engulf that country.”
Appearing to make an excuse for Pakistan going slow in tackling terrorism, Mr Obama said: “The progress is not as quick as we like... The northwest terrain is difficult and extremists are well entrenched.”
The US President was confronted with a volley of questions on various issues. The tone was set by Mr Obama’s wife Michelle, who spoke first and urged the students to ask her husband “tough” questions.
“I urge you to ask (him) some tough questions. This brightens his day.” Speaking afterwards, Mr Obama quipped: “I don’t like speaking after Michelle because she is very good... Also because she teases me. She said ask me tough questions... You ask me easy questions — and that would be fine,” said the President.
Clad in a white shirt and black trousers, Mr Obama made his entry on the podium at 12.50 pm amid loud applause. He made a brief speech before taking questions.
He said a lot more Pakistanis had been killed by terrorists inside Pakistan than anywhere else. “I think there is a growing recognition, but it is something that does not happen overnight,” he said.
Mr Obama also said he was absolutely convinced that India had the “biggest stake” in Pakistan’s success. “I think that if Pakistan is unstable, it is bad for India. And if Pakistan is stable and prosperous, that is good for India.”
A girl, who happened to pose the first question to the US President, wanted to know his take on jihad. In his reply, Mr Obama said: “Jihad has a lot of meanings. Islam is one of the greatest religions. A majority of its one billion followers believe in peace, justice and tolerance. This great religion has been distorted by a few extremists to justify violence towards innocent people. So one of the challenges the world faces is how to ‘isolate’ those who have these distorted notions of religious war... youth can make a huge impact in reaffirming that one can be a strong observer of one’s faith without putting somebody else down or visiting violence on somebody else.”
On a question regarding whether the US had failed in achieving its goals in Afghanistan, Mr Obama said: “A stable Afghanistan is still achievable.”
Mr Obama went on to say that at his meeting with the Prime Minister in New Delhi, he would discuss how India and the US could advance cooperation in the 21st century.
The Obamas also visited the agriculture and food security expo at St. Xavier’s College. The President showed a lot of interest in the products on display. He went to the Iffco Kisan Sanchar stall and enquired about how low-cost services were being extended to Indian farmers through mobile telephony.