Barack Obama in Delhi: What he said about Manmohan Singh

NEW DELHI: Former US President Barack Obama who’s in Delhi December 1 was asked at an event about the fact that a lot was written about his friendship with PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi.
Obama paused a beat, and then reminded the audience that he was “also great friends” with another Prime Minister India had not so long ago.
“I like him (Modi)…I think he has a vision for the country…he is making efforts to modernize some elements of bureaucracy. But I was also great friends with Dr. (Manmohan) Singh,” said Obama.
The 44th US President then talked about how former PRIME MINISTER Singh, a Cambridge-trained economist, was a great support in the aftermath of the 2009 financial crisis.
Obama has praised the UPA PRIME MINISTER before. In 2010, after the G20 summit in Toronto, the then US President notably said of Singh, “when the Prime Minister speaks, people listen.” This was particularly significant as the world was then grappling with the fallout of the US housing crisis.
“I can tell you that here at G20, when the Prime Minister speaks, people listen,” he said, adding it was because of his deep knowledge of economic issues, the nuances of India’s rise as a world power and its commitment towards global peace and prosperity, according to IANS news agency.
A year before that, on the sidelines of another G20 summit, Obama had called Singh “a wise and wonderful man.”
Today, Obama also praised PRIME MINISTER Modi. He said the PRIME MINISTER was a big driver of the Paris Climate Agreement of December 2015. Significantly, in June 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the agreement.

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