Obama finally calls Manmohan Singh, discusses Indo-US ties

TIME FOR INDIA: Obama has already spoken to 15 world leaders, including the Pakistani President.

US president-elect Barack Obama called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday morning and discussed the Indo-US relationship.

Obama reportedly told Singh that the two countries can work together in many area.

“We need to give strength to Indo-US relations. The Indo-US strategic ties are very important,” Obama told Singh.

PMO sources said Singh congratulated Obama on his historic victory and said his success would be an inspiration for the oppressed people all over the world.

The Prime Minister also said that the relationship between India and the US was “very good” but “we should not be satisfied with the status quo”.

Singh conveyed his best wishes for the success of the Obama administration in meeting challenges that face the world.

The Prime Minister also invited Obama and his wife Mitchelle to visit India, the sources said.

Obama praised Singh’s contribution to the progress of India as Finance Minister earlier and the Prime Minister now.

Obama had reportedly called Singh on Saturday too but the Prime Minister could not take the telephone call from the US president-elect as he was travelling.

“I got a call on Saturday but could not take it as I was travelling,” Manmohan Singh had said on Monday on board his special aircraft while returning home from a two-nation visit to the Gulf.

Obama has already spoken to 15 world leaders, including Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, after his election.

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China to help Pakistan build nuke reactors

The US might not be willing, but Pakistan’s old friend and strategic ally, China has agreed to help it build two more nuclear reactors.

Top officials said that was this part of China’s efforts to improve civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries.

An agreement to this effect was signed in Beijing during the course of the first visit of the new Pakistan President ,Asif Ali Zardari, to China that concluded on Friday, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said.

However, Pakistan has not been able to swing a deal like the one between India and the US.

Meanwhile, China has spoken out against the discrimanatory nature of that Indo-US Nuclear Deal, saying Pakistan should not be left out.