Obama unveils India deals, pays tribute to Mumbai victims - Summary

Sat, 06 Nov 2010

New Delhi - US President Barack Obama announced business deals worth 10 billion dollars to support over 50,000 jobs in the US on the opening day of his India tour Saturday.

The US president also paid tribute to the Mumbai attacks victims and vowed to deepen anti-terrorism cooperation with New Delhi.

Obama spoke about the contracts at a business summit in Mumbai, India's financial hub, where he arrived on the first leg of a four- nation tour of Asia, eying economic opportunities days after the Democratic Party received a drubbing in midterm polls largely due to voter anger over high unemployment and slow economic recovery.

Several of the 20 deals Obama referred to were already on the cards and it was not clear how many new jobs would be created.

A White House release said the deals included a preliminary agreement between Boeing and the Indian Air Force for 10 C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft, valued at 4.1 billion dollars and expected to support 22,160 jobs.

Another order, by commercial carrier Spicejet, for 33 Boeing 737s was valued at 2.7 billion dollars, the White House statement said.

General Electric had received a supply and maintenance contract valued at 750 million dollars from India's Reliance Power Limited and another for engines for light combat aircraft produced by the state- run Indian Aeronautical Development Agency for 822 million dollars.

"The relationship between the United States and India is the defining relationship of the 21st century," Obama said, adding that the two democracies should work together to provide their people broad-based economic growth.

"There is still tremendous untapped potential," the US president said.

"The US sees Asia, and especially India, as a market of the future, Obama said earlier, adding, "We don't simply welcome your rise - as a nation, and a people - we ardently support it".

Obama also said US would be easing controls on exports to India to boost trade in high technology items.

Meanwhile, Washington would support India's membership of four global non-proliferation organizations like the Nuclear Suppliers Group, in a phased manner.

Earlier Saturday, in his first engagement after landing in Mumbai, Obama paid homage to the 2008 massacre victims and praised the resolve and resilience of Indians in standing up to the attacks.

Obama and his wife Michelle are staying at Mumbai's Taj Hotel, one of the targets of the three-day siege that killed 166 people across the metropolis.

Obama drew a parallel between the Mumbai and the 9/11 attacks. "We will never forget," he said.

"Indeed, today the US and India are working more closely than ever to keep our people safe and I look forward to deepening our counter- terrorism cooperation even further, when I meet with Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh in New Delhi," he said.

After jobs and creating economic opportunities, Obama's focus is expected to shift to consolidating the political and strategic relationship with India.

After interacting with students and attending a technology exposition in Mumbai, Obama will depart to Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan as well as Delhi's troubled ties with nuclear neighbor Pakistan are to feature prominently in the Obama-Singh summit slated for Monday.

Washington wants to strengthen its strategic ties with New Delhi as it views the South Asian country as a counterbalance to the growing economic and military might of China, foreign policy experts said.

India and US have built strong ties over the past decade, a marked transformation from strained relations during the Cold War when New Delhi was seen as close to Moscow.

The US has held more joint defense exercises with India than any other nation, 50 of these being held in the past eight years, while it has also emerged as a leading supplier of military hardware to India with sales totaling up to 13 billion dollars over the 10 years.

Bill Clinton's 2000 visit to the South Asian country broke years of mistrust and estrangement between the two democracies.

The high-point in India-US ties came under the George Bush administration when the two countries signed a landmark deal for civilian nuclear cooperation, which allowed for the lifting of a three-decade ban on trade in nuclear material with India.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/352274,mumbai-victims-summary.html.