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“Obama wanted to talk to me”

— PHOTO: PTI/Atul Yadav

CLEARING THE AIR: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the media while flying back from Qatar on Monday.

ON BOARD PRIME MINISTER’S SPECIAL AIRCRAFT: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has dispelled the impression that India is not among the countries with which Barack Obama established contact soon after winning the U.S. presidential election early this month.

“This is not true. Mr. Obama wanted to talk to me day before yesterday [Saturday]. We could not establish contact because the time that was suggested was too short for me to interact and since then I have been travelling for the last two days. As soon as I go back [we will try to establish contact]. I had a very warm letter from him even before he was elected and I myself have written a warm letter to him and got a detailed letter spelling out his approach on India and international affairs. And therefore, I have every reason to believe that India’s relations with the United States under President Obama will become stronger than ever before,” Dr. Singh said, talking to journalists late midnight on Monday night on his way back home from Qatar.

He also condoled the death of Mr. Obama’s grandmother and that letter was “immediately acknowledged.”

On Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achutanandan’s allegation that the Union government was neglecting his State, the Prime Minister said he was conscious of the obligation to help not only Kerala but also the other Left-ruled States of West Bengal and Tripura.

“There is no question of any discrimination,” Dr. Singh said.

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