Obama hits perfect note for host

NEW DELHI - Barack Obama's three-day trip to India ended on a high note yesterday when he backed New Delhi for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, fulfilling his hosts' most fervent hope from the visit by the United States President.

The President's effortless charm not only silenced his critics but endeared him to millions of Indians, cynical about his ability to present any tangible "deliverables" to its newfound strategic partner.

"The just and sustainable international order that America seeks includes a UN that is efficient, effective, credible and legitimate," Obama declared in an impressive speech to the Indian Parliament on the final day of his visit.

"That is why I can say today that in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed UN Security Council which includes India as a permanent member," he said, like a practised performer saving the best for last and triggering the loudest applause from the audience of hundreds of MPs and VIPs.

Obama's declaration does not mean that India will join the five permanent Security Council members any time soon but merely that the US was endorsing its candidature in light of proposed UN reforms that could take years.

But the US President cautioned India that increased power engendered increased responsibility and Delhi needed to measure up to this role.

He directly criticised India for keeping mum on the recent "stolen elections" in neighbouring Myanmar and avoiding criticism of its repressive military junta in international forums.

After years of supporting Myanmar's democratic movementled by incarcerated Nobel PeacePrize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, India switched tack a decade ago to embrace the military rulers in order to dilute their links with nuclear rival Beijing.

India also collaborates closely with the junta in order to combat insurgents operating in its northeastern states who seek refuge in Myanmar's jungles.

Obama also hinted at India's incipient support for Iran, which had failed to fulfil its obligations as a Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty signatory by choosing, the US charges, to clandestinely develop strategic capability, and the need for Delhi to alter its stand over this in return for the UN Security Council seat.

Under sharp criticism for not directly castigating India's nuclear rival Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism, especially the November 2008 three-day siege of Mumbai by 10 gunmen from Pakistan in which more than 165 people were killed, Obama, once again did not disappoint.

To vociferous clapping, he forcefully declared that the US would "continue to insist to Pakistan's leaders that terrorist safe havens within their borders are unacceptable and that the terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks be brought to justice".

"We must also recognise that all of us have an interest in both an Afghanistan and a Pakistan that is stable, prosperous and democratic - and none more so than India."

Earlier, at a news conference with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Obama promised to co-operate closely with Delhi to combat terrorism and offered to help India and Pakistan to resolve their dispute over Kashmir without Washington's direct intervention.

"We are happy to play any role the parties think appropriate," he said, adding that the US "cannot impose" a resolution to problems between the neighbours, a declaration that once more delighted Indian officialdom.

Pakistan has actively been seeking US intervention in the 63-year-old Kashmir dispute, something India vociferously opposes.

On Afghanistan, Obama said: "The US will not abandon the people of Afghanistan - or the region - to the violent extremists who threaten us all," adding that the strategy to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates" had to succeed on both sides of the border (Afghanistan and Pakistan).

Obama also announced US$10 billion ($12.7 billion) in business deals with India and won accolades for declaring that the US would relax the ban, nearly three decade old, on transferring high-end technology in the military and space sectors, imposed after Delhi's nuclear tests in 1974.

The President said Washington would support India's membership to four global nuclear non-proliferation organisations.