Date:03/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/03/stories/2008120355301100.htm

Front Page

Obama expects Pakistan to fully cooperate with India

Chicago: United States President-elect Barack Obama has said that he expected Islamabad to fully cooperate with New Delhi in the investigations into the Mumbai terror attacks, and India, like other sovereign nations, has the right to “protect” itself.

“My expectation is that President [Asif Ali] Zardari of Pakistan, who has already said that he will fully cooperate with the investigation, will follow through with that commitment,” Mr. Obama said on Monday echoing the remarks of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier in the day.

Asked if India had the right to “take out” high-value targets inside Pakistan with or without the permission of Islamabad, as he espousing in regard to the U.S. under his presidency, he said: “I think that sovereign nations, obviously, have a right to protect themselves. — PTI