India looking at Obama’s visit with hope, optimism: Envoy

People of India are looking U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit with great hope and optimism, and this will herald a new era of relationship between the two nations, Indian Ambassador to the U.S. has said. “We look forward to President Obama’s visit to India next month with great hope and optimism and as an opportunity at highest political level to steer our relationship onto a new higher plane,” said Meera Shankar, Indian envoy to the U.S. Addressing students of George Washington University, Shankar said the basic fundamentals of India-U.S. relations, regardless of any minor issue-specific differences, give confidence that the strategic dimension of this relationship would truly manifest itself in practical terms through joint efforts in all areas of cooperation, including at the international level. “Both countries have the strong political will to move in this direction. We share common interests and concerns, and jointly seek to build our relationship as a long-term global partnership. Both countries have expressed conviction that enduring bilateral relations do not serve us only bilaterally, but also in meaningfully addressing new global threats and challenges,” she said on Tuesday.Ms. Shankar said Mr. Obama visit to India in November promises to be a landmark visit. “We look forward to not only consolidating the enormous strides that we have taken in our relationship in recent years but also to set directions and lay out a vision for the future course of our strategic partnership,” she had said in her speech, provided by Indian Embassy in Washington. “India and the US hold regular and candid dialogue on Afghanistan and Pakistan; we exchange views and coordinate approaches on other developments in South Asia; we have commenced a dialogue on East Asia and the evolving Asian economic and security architecture. We discuss how we can work together for development of Africa,” she said.In the larger Asian and global context, both the US and India have begun exploratory discussions on how they can work together to ensure the safety of the Global Commons -- including maritime security and protecting the domains of space and cyber space, Ms. Shankar said.Nothing was a greater symbol and instrument of transformation in India-U.S. relations than the Civil Nuclear Agreement, she said adding that it not only addressed an issue which had constrained the full potential of the bilateral relationship but also created new economic opportunities to cooperate in the areas of civil nuclear energy, energy security, climate change and nuclear proliferation.“India has identified two sites for building nuclear reactors in cooperation with U.S. companies and we hope to commence commercial negotiations shortly. A new dimension is our Space cooperation with India’s first moon mission, Chandrayaan 1, carrying a NASA payload which detected the existence of water on the moon.“There are good prospects for expanding this cooperation in other areas such as exchange of data for weather prediction and climate change, space exploration and space flights,” she said.Seeking U.S. help in securing Permanent Membership of the UN Security Council, Shankar argued the need for the two countries to work together to reform the international architecture of global governance. “We are already moving towards more representative mechanisms for global financial and economic management, but we need to reform the institutions that deal with political and security challenges including the UN. Security Council for which there is growing support,” she said. “This would not only enhance their legitimacy but also impact positively on the efficacy of these institutions. As a country of over a billion people, with one of the fastest growing economies and as a democratic nation, India is willing to assume its responsibility to meet the global challenges of our times,” Ms. Shankar said. Picture of Bopanna, Qureshi wins ‘Image of Year’ award A picture of ‘Indo-Pak Express’ tennis stars, Rohan Bopana and his doubles partner Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi, taken by the U.S.-based Indian photo journalist Jay Mandal has won the ‘Image of the Year’ prize under the prestigious ‘Peace and Sport’ award.For the first time, the winner of the award for Peace and Sport’s Image of the Year was chosen by a public voting system on Internet.The winning photograph of Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Qureshi, submitted by the ATP World Tour, won nearly 60 per cent of the votes. “The message of peace given by Rohan and Aisam is a unique source of inspiration for young people in their respective countries, but its significance does not stop there,” Joel Bouzou, President and founder of ‘Peace and Sport’ that gives the prestigious award said at a ceremony announcing the 21st edition of the Georges Bertellotti Golden Podium Awards held at SPORTEL Monaco. “They use their charisma and their sporting success to raise awareness amongst the entire international community, their fellow athletes and political authorities in their countries, as we saw at the US Open. I hope that their appeal will lead the way to new rapprochement initiatives,” Bouzou said. The picture captured by New York-based Mandal shows the two tennis star from the sub-continent along with Indian Ambassador to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri and his Pakistani counterpart Abdullah H Haroon.Despite the differences between the two countries, Bopanna and Qureshi have played doubles for three years. “Sport’s greatest victory is not measured in terms of medals. It is measured by its ability to positively change people’s lives and bring them hope. And that’s exactly what Rohan and Aisam succeed in doing. They demonstrate what champions can achieve when they use their celebrity (status) for a good cause,” Bouzou said.According to a media release, the two players will be attending the 4th International Forum Peace and Sport on December 2 in Monaco with 450 international leaders. Saina wins singles gold, India finish second Women shuttlers led by singles title—favourite Saina Nehwal provided India with a golden double to pilot the country to a historic second—place finish in the Commonwealth Games that ended here today. Saina rallied brilliantly from a first—game loss to put it across Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia 19—21 23—21 21—13 in the women’s singles final after Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa had captured the doubles crown. The men’s hockey team crashed to a humiliating 0—8 defeat against world and defending champions Australia in the final, but the two—gold final flourish in badminton enabled India to rise to the second spot in the medals tally with 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals. England, ahead of India going into the last day of the Games, finished in third place with a total haul of 37—59—45 while Australia ended up in the top position with a huge heist of 74—54—48.The push for the second spot on the concluding day was started by Jwala and Ashwini. The duo overwhelmed Singapore’s Sari Shanti Mulia and Yao Lei in straight games to become India’s first women’s doubles pair to win a gold medal in badminton. The second—seeded Indian pair subdued their top—seeded rivals 21—16 21—19 by combining attack and defense in the right mixture in front of the packed crowd at the Siri Fort complex.Then came Saina’s crucial gold—winning effort that pushed the country ahead of England, in their bitter fight for the runner—up position in the Games.The hosts clinched another medal, a bronze, in table tennis when Poulomi Ghatak and Mouma Das prevailed in the women’s doubles bronze medal play—off against Australian duo Tan Zed Vivian and Peri Campbell—Innes.But in men’s hockey gold medal—deciding clash, the Indian team suffered one of their worst—ever defeats in front of a huge crowd that included Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.High—flying India were brought down to earth rudely and ruthlessly by Australia who dished out a clinical display to spank the hosts in a totally lopsided summit clash.The Indians, who had pipped England in a thrilling penalty shoot—out in the semis two days ago to make their maiden entry into the final, came up with a rather pathetic show when it mattered most and had to be content with the silver medal.The capacity crowd at the national stadium were left heart—broken as the hosts conceded goals with embarrassing ease in the summit showdown.The sweltering conditions had no effect on Australia’s performance as they proved too strong for the erstwhile Asian giants and completely outplayed the hosts with their power hockey.