Obama to Focus on Strategic Ties with India

U.S. President Barack Obama will hold official talks with Indian leaders Monday that focus on strategic ties.

Mr. Obama will meet in New Delhi with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before addressing the Indian Parliament and then attending a state dinner in his honor.

The U.S. president is expected to elaborate on his call Sunday for arch nuclear foes India and Pakistan to talk, and for Islamabad to do more to tackle extremists threatening its neighbor.

Mr. Obama told students in Mumbai Sunday the U.S. is working with Pakistan aggressively to combat the cancer of Islamic extremism, but that progress is not coming as quickly as the U.S. would like.

India blames Pakistan for fostering Islamic extremists who carried out the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which killed more than 160 people.

Mr. Obama’s four-day visit to India ends Tuesday.

In Mumbai, Mr. Obama told students gathered at St. Xavier’s College Sunday that India has the biggest stake in Pakistan’s success in the fight against extremists. He said India does not need the distraction of security troubles at a time when it is starting to see success on the global economic stage.

Mr. Obama also said a strong relationship between the U.S. and India has “limitless potential,” potentially serving as an anchor for security, prosperity and progress for Asia as a whole.

Mr. Obama said he believes India is no longer a rising power, but one that is taking its rightful place among world leaders.

Mr. Obama will next visit Indonesia on his 10-day Asian tour. He lived in Indonesia during part of his childhood. He then travels to South Korea for the summit of leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies.

The president is expected to raise the issue of China’s tight control of its currency, which many lawmakers and business leaders say makes Chinese goods cheaper to sell on world markets. Mr. Obama is also hoping to announce progress on the long-stalled U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement.

President Obama will also visit Japan.

Some information in this story was provided by AFP and Bloomberg.