President greeted with pomp, grandeur in India

NEW DELHI – President Barack Obama heralded the relationship between the United States and India as a “defining partnership” of the 21st century today during a grand ceremony marking his visit to the world’s largest democracy.

Obama’s limousine was escorted to Rashtrapati Bhavan, the palatial residence of India’s president, by guards on horseback. Obama greeted Indian dignitaries, then stood with his hand on his heart as the U.S. national anthem was played.

The grandeur of the arrival ceremony kicked off a day heavy on diplomacy. Obama was to meet privately with India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Later today, Obama planned to speak to the Indian Parliament, with announcements expected on counterterrorism, regional security, clean energy, climate change and economic growth.

Domestic politics followed Obama across the globe, and he tried to explain how he will recalibrate his presidency from the rubble of last week’s elections. The topic came up not in response to a question from a Washington reporter but rather an Indian college student, who told Obama: “It seems that the American people have asked for a change.”

The president agreed that people vented their frustration about the economy by sacking many incumbents. A “healthy thing,” he said, even though his Democratic Party suffered, losing control of one of the chambers in Congress. He said he would not retreat on spending money for energy and education, and offered no specific policy changes.

But then he added that the election “requires me to make some midcourse corrections and adjustments. And how those play themselves out over the next several months will be a matter of me being in discussions with the Republican Party.”

Still, Obama was determined to make Sunday a more casual expression of his engagement in India. And this picture emerged: a rigid but good-spirited attempt by the president to dance with children, who pulled him from his chair to join them and his wife, Michelle, already participating gracefully.

That scene unfolded at a school where the Obamas spoke with students about science projects and helped celebrate the religious festival known as Diwali. Said one boy afterward: “I am feeling very proud.”

The centerpiece of Obama’s day was his stop at St. Xavier College, a Jesuit institution where students waited for hours outside for him in the heat.

Obama has used this town hall format in his foreign travels as a comfortable way to connect with people, although by the time he was done offering advice to the students, he only had room for six questions.

One of the sharper ones was this – “Why is Pakistan so important an ally to America, so far as America has never called it a terrorist state?”

To his audience Sunday, Obama said the Pakistani government understands the dangerous elements that hide and operate within its borders. He also defended the strategic importance of Pakistan to the United States, as he has about India.

“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,” he said.

He said the U.S. approach is to “be honest and forthright with Pakistan, to say we are your friend, this is a problem and we will help you, but the problem has to be addressed.”

Obama will spend tonight in New Dehli before moving on to Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.