Saturday, February 23, 2008

Will Build a Close Partnership With INDIA : OBAMA

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Senator Barack Obama, the frontrunner for the Democratic Party's nomination for presidential elections in November, has pledged to ''build a close strategic partnership'' between US and India if elected.

In an article he has written for India Abroad, the Illinois Senator has also committed that he will encourage the active engagement and partnership of the Indian American community in ''making the change we seek'' in US.

''The world's oldest democracy (US) and the world's largest democracy (India) are natural partners, sharing important interests and fundamental democratic values,'' Obama said in the article for the next edition of the weekly newspaper headquartered in New York.

Obama, who has edged past rival Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, said it is his commitment to the critical relationship between the two countries that he voted for the US-India nuclear energy deal on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

''And that is why I will move forward to build a close strategic partnership between the US and India when I am president of the United States,'' he added.

Obama said Washington and New Delhi must work together to combat the common threats of the 21st century because ''both countries have been victims of catastrophic terrorist attacks and we have a shared interest in succeeding in the fight against al-Qaeda and its operational and ideological affiliates''.

The presidential hopeful said he voted against the Iraq war because ''we needed to finish the fight with bin Laden and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan''.

He also referred to his proposal long before the declaration of martial law in Pakistan that the US needed to ''condition our assistance to the Pakistani government so that we encourage stronger action against al-Qaeda and a restoration of democracy''.

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