Washington: President Barack Obama honored Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a toast in which he called the United States' relationship with India a "great and growing partnership."
Obama opened the first state dinner of his presidency with kind words for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He said the two leaders are bringing their countries together like never before.
He said the dinner setting conjured images of India, where special events are "often celebrated under the cover of a beautiful tent."
Singh returned the praise, saying Obama's election has allowed millions of Indians to dream of their futures. He said he felt privileged to have been invited by the President.
“We are overwhelmed by the President’s hospitality,” he said while addressing the media after the dinner.
‘Absolute imperative to bring 26/11 culprits to justice’
Mounting pressure on Pakistan, the US today joined India in underscoring the "absolute imperative" to bring to justice the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks and underlining the need for "resolute and credible steps" to eliminate "safe havens" in Pakistan and Afghanistan which undermine the security and stability around the world.
Setting out to launch a "new phase" in their strategic
partnership, India and the US vowed to redouble their efforts
to deal effectively with terrorism and in this regard signed
an MoU to enhance cooperation particularly in information
sharing and capacity building.
During their 90-minute meeting, Manmohan
Singh and Barack Obama agreed to step up cooperation
and collaboration on pressing global challenges like terrorism
and climate change and decided to take new bilateral
initiatives in education, healthcare and agriculture sectors.
-PTI inputs
First Published: Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 17:03