Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pressed US President Barack Obama at their 30-minute face-to-face meeting here to convince Pakistan to take strong action against terrorists involved in anti-India activities in that country following disclosures made by Lashkar-e-Tayyaba operative David Coleman Headley.
Briefing reporters about the Singh-Obama meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit here, India’s foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said the two leaders discussed the situation in the region and spoke of counter-terrorism cooperation in Afghanistan to stabilise the situation in that country.
Dr Singh briefed Mr Obama about India’s peace initiatives with Pakistan, but made it clear that Islamabad should abide by its commitment to not allow terrorism directed against India to emanate from its soil. Headley’s activities came up for discussion following the disclosures he made to Indian investigators who were granted direct access to him earlier this month.
In response to a question, Ms Rao said the issue of former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson’s possible extradition did not come up at the meeting.
Earlier in Toronto, India and Canada signed a landmark civil nuclear cooperation deal on Sunday, ending a 36-year-old freeze in nuclear cooperation. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying the pact “breaks new ground” in the history of Indo-Canadian nuclear cooperation, pledged that imported uranium and atomic technology would not be used for “any unintended purpose”. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called it a good agreement as “we cannot live in the past ... in the 1970s”. The agreement was signed in the presence of the two Prime Ministers.
Dr Manmohan Singh left Toronto on Monday, flying home to New Delhi via Frankfurt, where he will stay overnight.
Foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, when asked about Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik’s reported statement that it was not possible for either Pakistan or India to control the likes of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, said it
was possible for Pakistan to control the activities of people like Saeed.
Ms Rao said the meeting between Dr Singh and Mr Obama was marked with warmth and cordiality, with the US President saying he looked forward to his India visit in November, to which the Prime Minister responded that a “very warm welcome” awaited the President, First Lady Michelle Obama and their two children in India.
Welcoming Dr Singh, Mr Obama called him a “good friend” and said he continues to believe that the extraordinary leadership that the Prime Minister provided not just to his country but to the world had helped “us navigate through some very difficult times”.
He said he was pleased to have accepted an invitation to visit India. “It is a trip that I’m very much looking forward to, and I know that the Prime Minister and his gracious wife will extend great hospitality to us... We are also excited because of the tremendous cultural, political, social and economic examples that India is providing the world, and has in the past,” he said.
“Thank you so much for your friendship, and we look forward to working
with you in the months to come, leading up to the visit, so that we know we’re going to have a very productive stay when we’re in India,” Mr Obama said.