US President Barack Obama has criticised the pace of
Pakistan’s fight against militants within its borders.
“Progress is not as quick as we’d like,” said
Mr Obama.
He was speaking in the Indian city of Mumbai on the
second day of a 10-day Asian tour designed to boost US exports and create jobs.
Mr Obama called for dialogue between India and Pakistan,
adding that India was the country with the biggest stake in Pakistan’s success.
Mr Obama fielded tricky questions on Pakistan, jihad and
disappointing mid-term poll results from students at an open forum last event
of his Mumbai visit before he headed to New Delhi.
More than 300 students attended the open-air question and
answer session at St Xavier’s College, in which the US president answered six
questions on various subjects.
Twenty-year-old Anam Ansari, a third year science student
asked Mr Obama for his opinion on jihad, setting the tone for the rather
scorching afternoon.
Afsheen Irani said she had planned to ask a question
about education but changed her mind to ask about Pakistan “because I
thought he had not spoken about this issue in this visit. It was a diplomatic
answer. I had to be satisfied with what I got.
One student asked him why the US did not declare Pakistan
a terrorist state.
“We will work with the Pakistani government in order
to eradicate this extremism that we consider a cancer within the country that
can potentially engulf the country,” said Mr Obama.
He said that India would benefit the most from a peaceful
and prosperous Pakistan, and that it did not need the distraction of
instability in the region.
The US president said he hoped one day to see trust
develop and dialogue begin between the nuclear-armed neighbours, which have
fought three wars in the past 60 years.
“My hope is that over time, trust develops between
the two countries, that dialogue begins, perhaps on less controversial issues,
building up to more controversial issues,” he said.
As India succeeded economically, he said, it did not want
the distraction of insecurity and instability in the region.
Earlier in his visit, Mr Obama visited the scene of the
2008 attacks in Mumbai, saying India and the US were united against terrorism.
Mr Obama’s tour follows US mid-term elections that saw
heavy losses for Democrats, seen in part as punishment for the US
administration’s inability to tackle high unemployment.
Before the trip, Mr Obama spoke of the need for greater
US access to India markets as part of a drive to double US exports over the
next five years and help revive the economy at home.
Trade between India and the US was worth about $40bn in
2008 – still significantly less than US trade with other partners like China
and Europe.
Security is tight for Mr Obama’s visit. Thousands of
Indian and US security personnel are deployed and a US naval warship is on
patrol in the waters off the coast of the city.
Later on his trip, Mr Obama will announce a
“comprehensive partnership” including economic ties in Indonesia,
attend a G20 summit of global economic powers in Seoul and participate in an
Asia-Pacific economic forum in Yokohama, Japan.
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