Obama Thanks Manmohan, Pledges To Continue Close Cooperation

Washington: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was amongst the several world leaders President Barack Obama personally called to thank for their congratulatory messages and to express "his desire to continue close cooperation moving ahead".

Manmohan Singh and Obama had a telephonic conversation Thursday evening, said an official statement from Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi.

The prime minister congratulated Obama on his re-election and wished him success for his second term in office.

He added that this had given an opportunity to the two countries to carry forward and build on the enormous successes that had been achieved in the bilateral partnership in the last few years.

"Prime minister also expressed his appreciation for the personal interest and commitment that President Obama had brought to the relationship and said that he looked forward to continuing their close cooperation to pursue their shared vision for the India-U.S. strategic partnership," it said.

A White House readout of the president's phone calls with world leaders  said: "Since Tuesday evening, the president has been receiving messages from his counterparts around the world congratulating him on winning re-election to a second term in office."

"The president appreciates all of these messages and looks forward to continuing to work with all of his fellow leaders to address the serious challenges we face together in the world.

"This morning the president was able to return some of these messages personally, by phone. In each call, he thanked his counterpart for their friendship and partnership thus far and expressed his desire to continue close cooperation moving ahead," it said.

In his congratulatory message to Obama, Manmohan Singh personally committed to a "rewarding" association to build further on the global strategic partnership that the two nations have built over the last four years.

The mandate for Obama to lead the U.S. for four more years gave him a historic opportunity to continue to work for both the American people and for global peace and progress at "an admittedly difficult juncture" for the U.S. and the world at large, he said.

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