President Barack Obama welcomed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the White House on Tuesday, speaking with him about advancing the relationship between the U.S. and India and improving the nations' strategic partnership.
Speaking to reporters after their meeting, both leaders stressed the importance of creating human capital for the future development of both countries, especially in regard to climate change and energy security.
"We agreed to strengthen the economic recovery and expand trade and investment so we can create jobs for both our peoples -- Americans and Indians," Obama said. "Indian investment in America is creating and sustaining jobs across the United States. The United States is India's largest trading and investment partner."
He added, "To sustain this momentum we're creating new initiatives to promote trade, investment and technology cooperation, especially among our small and medium-sized businesses that create most of the jobs here in the United States."
Obama said that both the U.S. and India are committed to new clean energy initiatives, reduced poverty through sustainable development and the elimination of subsidies for fossil fuels, and he added that both countries aim to work together to help develop new world energy policies at the coming climate change conference in Copenhagen.
"With just two weeks until the beginning of Copenhagen, it's also essential that all countries do what is necessary to reach a strong operational agreement that will confront the threat of climate change while serving as a stepping-stone to a legally binding treaty," Obama said. "To that end, Prime Minister Singh and I made important progress today."
He added, "We reaffirmed that an agreement in Copenhagen should be comprehensive and cover all the issues under negotiation. We resolved to take significant national mitigation actions that will strengthen the world's ability to combat climate change."
Singh added that both countries have an important opportunity to develop the green economy of the future, and he stressed the importance of substantial efforts to address and prevent climate change.
"When India and the United States meet, it is a moment to celebrate the values of democracy, pluralism, liberty, and freedom. Today we have done that and much more," Singh said. "In our discussions today, we reaffirmed the importance of our relationship and decided on future steps to enhance our strategic partnership."
He added, "We have agreed to further intensify our trade, investment, and economic cooperation in a way that creates jobs and prosperity in both our two countries and stimulates global economic recovery."
The prime minister also said that the Indo-U.S. partnership is essential to addressing other global challenges such as terrorism and economic development.
"The forces of terrorism in our region pose a grave threat to the entire civilized world and have to be defeated," Singh said. "President Obama and I have decided to strengthen our cooperation in the area of counterterrorism."
On the subject of terrorism, Obama said that both the U.S. and India would deepen their operations against trans-national threats and both countries' intelligence agencies would work closely to "eradicate" terrorist activity in the regions surrounding India.
"The whole world I think has a core security interest in making sure that the kind of extremism and violence that you've seen emanating from this region is tackled, confronted in a serious way," Obama said.
He added, "The United States and India are natural allies not just around counterterrorism issues, but on a whole host of issues. … We have a range of shared values and ideals. We're both entrepreneurial societies. We're both multiethnic societies. We are societies that believe in human rights and core freedoms that are enshrined in our founding documents."
The leaders also discussed expanding trade and investment between the two countries in order to create jobs and stimulate the global economy.
Both Obama and Singh also discussed nuclear non-proliferation and combining their nations' efforts to achieve a "shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons" and ensure that other nations strive to reach a goal of nuclear disarmament.
During his remarks, President Obama also briefly touched on the establishment of food security initiatives designed to increase farm output and reduce hunger as well as the establishment of a new disease detection center in India, before reaffirming America's commitment to its partnership with India.
"You will have no better friend and Partner than the United States of America," he said.
In response to a reporter's question, Obama also revealed that he would make an announcement regarding his decision on troop levels in Afghanistan after Thanksgiving. Reports have suggested that the president will make the announcement next Tuesday.
"After eight years -- some of those years in which we did not have, I think, either the resources or the strategy to get the job done -- it is my intention to finish the job," Obama said.
He added, "I feel very confident that when the American people hear a clear rationale for what we're doing there and how we intend to achieve our goals that they will be supportive."
When pressed on when exactly the announcement would take place, Obama reiterated, "After Thanksgiving. And I'm sure that at that point, if there are further questions, that we'll be answering them to the satisfaction not just of you, but to the satisfaction of the American people."
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