As U.S.-Pakistan relations tense up, Obama speaks to India’s PM

The deepening rift between the U.S. and Pakistan over the discovery (and killing) of Osama bin Laden has India deeply interested in the ramifications of all this intrigue and counter-accusations.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by phone Monday with India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh – and one of the principal topics of conversation was the attack on the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan which killed the al-Qaeda terror chief.

It is believed to be the first conversation between Obama and Singh in the week since the sensational murder of bin Laden.

A statement from the White House, however, did not actually mention the name “Pakistan,” but rather the “successful American action against Osama Bin Laden.”

“The two leaders re-affirmed their commitment to building a global, strategic partnership, including defense cooperation, and looked forward to the upcoming meetings of the Strategic Dialogue, the Homeland Security Dialogue, the Joint Space Working Group, and the High-Technology Cooperation Group,” the White House statement read.

A spokesman for the Indian Prime Minister said: it was a warm conversation, which covered wide range of subjects. They discussed further growth and development of the situation in the region.”

Singh has earlier commented that he hoped the death of bin Laden would represent a “decisive blow” against al-Qaeda and terrorism in general.

The phone chat between Singh and Obama come one day after the American chief executive revealed his suspicions that someone high up in the Pakistan government knew of bin Laden’s presence in the country and likely helped him avoid detection.

We don't know whether there might have been some people inside of government, people outside of government, and that's something that we have to investigate and more importantly, the Pakistani government has to investigate, Obama told the 'CBS News network.

We think that there had to be some sort of support network for bin Laden inside of Pakistan. But we don't know who or what that support network was”

Earlier today, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani dismissed allegations that his country was harboring bin Laden.
India itself said that the presence of bin Laden in Pakistan suggests the nation has become a sanctuary of sorts for a wide array of terrorists.

Our relationship with Pakistan has been complicated by the issue of terrorism and the need for Pakistan to take ameliorative action to eradicate terrorism against India,” foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said last week.

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