President Barack Obama said today Democratic losses in last week's congressional elections may require him to make some "midcourse corrections," conceding the results were a "healthy" outcome of democracy.
"One of the wonderful things about democracy is that when the people are not happy it's their right, obligation and duty to express their unhappiness, much to the regret sometimes of incumbents," Mr Obama told Indian university students at St. Xavier's College in Mumbai.
"But that's a good thing, that's a healthy thing," Mr Obama said at the town-hall meeting where he answered questions on a range of issues including US policy toward Pakistan and Afghanistan and the legacy of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.
On the second day of his official visit to India, Mr Obama faces a diplomatic tightrope in fostering ties with the growing global power, while at the same time helping Pakistan with billions of dollars in aid and promoting wider peace in Afghanistan.
Mr Obama's first leg of a 10-day Asian tour has been hailed as moving the United States closer to India as Washington tries to revive a weak economy and gather support to pressure China on its currency. But India's worries about Pakistan dominated today.
Peppered by questions from students at a college in India's financial hub, Mr Obama toed a cautious line between the two nuclear-armed foes, saying both were needed to help stabilise Afghanistan where thousands of US troops battle militants.
"My hope is that over time, trust develops between the two countries, that dialogue begins, perhaps on less controversial issues, building up to more controversial issues," the president told students.
The Mumbai attacks inflamed tension between the nuclear foes, who have been to war three times since 1947 independence. India says elements within the Pakistan state were behind the rampage, when Pakistan-based gunmen killed 166 people in a 60-hour strike on hotels, a train station and a Jewish centre.
India immediately broke off peace talks with Pakistan, although there have been some largely fruitless top level meetings in the last year.
"India's investment in development in Afghanistan is appreciated," Mr Obama added. "Pakistan has to be a partner in this process, in fact all countries in the region are going to need to be partners in this process. "The United States welcomes that, we don't think we can do this alone."
India has given $1.3 billion in aid to Afghanistan, a policy that unnerves Pakistan which sees its northern neighbour as its own backyard of influence. India wants stability there to stop the country being used to harbour anti-Indian Islamist militants.
Mr Obama said Pakistan was not acting quickly enough to deal with militancy within its borders, a view long expressed by many Indian officials who say Islamabad is hoodwinking Washington by taking aid while also backing militants in Afghanistan.
"There are more Pakistanis who've been killed by terrorists inside Pakistan than probably anywhere else," Mr Obama said.
Mr Obama will visit Indonesia, South Korea and Japan on the tour that will see Washington push to prevent countries unilaterally devaluing currencies to protect their exports, a top theme at the Group of 20 heads of state meet in Seoul next week.
Reuters