The US “strongly supports” India’s NSG membership bid, President Barack Obama today told Prime Minister Narendra Modi here as they discussed the immediate priorities in the strategic partnership, including deepening the civil nuclear cooperation and combating climate change.
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“I expect to work very hard over the next four and a half months”, he said. It seems to be “a habit, a way of speaking for him”.
“Because the consequences of when you do it the wrong way are innocent people get hurt and you have a bunch of unintended consequences that don’t solve the problem”, Obama said he told Mr. Duterte.
Alan Cayetano, who was Duterte’s vice-presidential running mate in this year’s election, described the atmosphere as “warm and cordial”, while a White House official said, “the exchange consisted of pleasantries between the two”.
The Obama administration had been working to build closer military and economic ties to the Philippines at a time when China’s growing influence has alarmed smaller nations in the region. This claim has been rejected by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, but China has declared it does not recognize and accept the ruling.
Duterte, who campaigned for the Philippine presidency on promises to end illegal drug activity in his homeland, has alarmed an array of human rights organizations with his deadly crackdown.
When he’s overseas, Obama has relayed fears from foreign leaders, who he says question him often about the state of the U.S. presidential contest.
“I do not have any master except the Filipino people”.
Obama’s remarks came at the end of a grueling nine-day trip that took the him to Laos and China following US stops in Nevada, Hawaii and Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
The brief meeting took a little sting out of the soured relations caused by Duterte’s intemperate language in referring to Obama earlier this week. “It certainly has no impact in how we interpret our obligations” in security treaties.
Often seen in a simple, button-down shirt or t-shirt and jeans on regular working days, Pres. Duterte proved that he can be formal when the need calls for it. The crackdown has evoked comparisons with so-called “death squads” that operated in southern Davao city while Duterte was the longtime, crime-fighting mayor.
Obama, closing out his final presidential trip to Asia, said his meetings with foreign leaders during the trip had illustrated that governing is “serious business” requiring knowledge, preparation and thought-out policies that can actually be implemented.
According to his spokesman, Duterte had suffered a severe migraine.
She said more worrisome in Duterte’s outburst was that he was tapping into anti-colonial sentiments against America that lingers in some quarters in the Philippines. “I guess it’s taken it’s toll on our president”.
Andanar did not confirm or deny the rumour and declined to comment saying it was a family matter of the president.
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Nakamura reported from Washington.
