White House: Mubarak has chance to show who he is

The White House said Mubarak haschance to show the world "exactly who he is" by bringing desperately needed change to his country now.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs also decried bloody violence happening in Cairo, where pro-government forces clashed with protesters a day after Mubarak announced he would not seek re-election in September. That wasn't good enough for the protesters, who want him out now.

"If any of the violence is instigated by the government it should stop immediately," Gibbs said, while declining to speculate whether the government was in fact behind the violence. Protesters contend plainclothes police are among the pro-government attackers.

`'The president found the images outrageous and deplorable," the press secretary said.

Gibbs said no decision had been made on cutting off the $1.5 billion in annual aid the U.S. provides Egypt but that it was still under review. Gibbs reiterated President Barack Obama's call from Tuesday night that transition in Egypt must begin now — but he didn't explain exactly what that meant or say whether Mubarak should resign now.

"Now means now," Gibbs said at the White House briefing.

"The people of Egypt need to see change, the people of Egypt need to see progress," he said.

Gibbs didn't directly answer when asked whether Obama viewed Mubarak as a dictator, saying the Egyptian president had a chance to show who he was. Mubarak has been an important ally to the U.S. during his 30-year reign, ensuring passage through the Suez Canal and maintaining peace with Israel, but for many Egyptian people they have been years of corrosive poverty, repression and corruption.

Gibbs avoided describing what a future government of Egypt might look like, or whether it was acceptable to the U.S. for Mubarak to preside over the transition to the next elections. Great uncertainty clouds the format of the transition and its ultimate outcome, but Gibbs would not say if one feared outcome — elevation of an Islamist fundamentalist regime — would be acceptable to the U.S.

Obama rejects view of India as "land of call centers"

MUMBAI (Reuters) – President Barack Obama hailed India on Saturday as a vital source of U.S. growth and jobs as his administration announced relaxation of U.S. export controls to spur trade between the two countries.

"As we look to India today, the United States sees an opportunity to sell our exports in one of the fastest growing markets in the world. For America this is a jobs strategy," Obama said as he kicked off a 10-day tour of Asia.

Obama's Democrats lost control on the U.S. House of Representatives in congressional elections on Tuesday as voters punished the party for high U.S. unemployment after a campaign marked by criticism of China and outsourcing hubs like India.

Acknowledging that anger, Obama said India was still seen by many Americans as "a land of call centers and back offices that cost American jobs," but he rejected that view.

"It is a dynamic, two-way relationship that has created jobs and growth and higher living standards in both our countries and that is the truth," he told business leaders.

In an address to a business summit, the president said U.S. companies were finalizing deals worth around $10 billion.

"Today's deals will lead to more than 50,000 jobs in the United States," he said.

Deals include previously announced transactions involving General Electric for aircraft engines and gas turbines, and Boeing for 737 passenger planes. But details on a key $4.5 billion sale by Boeing of C-17 military transport planes were still being ironed out.

White House aide Michael Froman told reporters Obama would ease export controls imposed after India's 1998 nuclear tests, and support Indian membership of four key global nuclear nonproliferation regimes.

"This really includes India as a major player in a non- proliferation world... and it recognizes the nature of the strategic relationship we now have with India," Froman said.

The four regimes are the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Australian Group, which aims to reduce the spread of chemical and biological weapons, and the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multinational effort to control the transfer of conventional arms dual-use technology.

Obama will remove almost all of the remaining Indian defense and space organizations from a list of entities maintained by the U.S. government to curb proliferation, and relax so called dual-use rules for Indian firms that regulate technology with both civil and defense applications.

"We will end up treating India similar to other close allies and partners other than as a country of concern," Froman said.

Obama begins 10-day overseas tour in India:: 6 NOV' 2010

US President Barack Obama flew into India's commercial capital on Saturday aiming to boost ties and seal big-ticket business deals to secure jobs and exports days after voters punished his Democrats in mid-term elections.

Obama will also visit Indonesia, South Korea and Japan on a 10-day 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.

In Mumbai, Obama's first stop will be the luxury Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, where he will pay respects to the victims of the 2008 attacks at one of the primary targets of gunmen who slaughtered 166 people.

One of the first diplomatic tests for Obama will be at the Taj. Indians will want a strong statement against Pakistan for fostering militants, but Washington must tread a fine line between appeasing New Delhi and supporting its regional ally.

Across town, police have removed coconuts around Mani Bhavan, where Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi stayed while in Mumbai and which now serves as a museum that Obama will visit on Saturday.

He will then attend a meeting with hundreds of US and Indian business leaders. He arrives in New Delhi on Sunday.

Obama's Saturday-to-Monday trip to India started just four days after his Democratic party sustained big election losses tied to the weak economy, raising some doubts over how much the trip can yield given the pressures at home.

But Obama clearly outlined that his goal was to strike "billions of dollars in contracts that will support tens of thousands of American jobs", and stated his intent to "reduce barriers to United States exports and increase access to the Indian market".

"It is hard to overstate the importance of Asia to our economic future," Obama wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Friday.

"It can be tempting, in times of economic difficulty, to turn inward, away from trade and commerce with other nations. But in our interconnected world, that is not a path to growth, and that is not a path to jobs. We cannot be shut out of these markets."