MUMBAI // In a string of stirring, unscripted answers, Barack Obama, the US president, responded to some tough questions posed by college students about American policy in Pakistan and India, urging the two countries to resolve their issues.
"It may be surprising that I am absolutely convinced that the country which has the biggest stake in Pakistan's success is India," the president told about 300 students from St. Xavier's College in Mumbai, and other area schools.
"If Pakistan is unstable, that's bad for India. If they are stable and prosper, then it is good. It is absolutely in your interest, in a time you are starting to succeed in the global-economic stage, then you don't want instability in your region."
The president encouraged a slow-moving dialogue between the countries to give leaders a basis for tackling the toughest aspects of their relationship, notably the divided territory of Kashmir. "My hope is that, over time, trust develops between the two countries, that dialogue begins perhaps on less controversial issues building up to more controversial issues," he said.
In due course, the president said he hoped "there's a recognition that India and Pakistan can live side by side in peace and that both countries can prosper".
Mr Obama said that although Islamabad was making progress against what he called the "cancer" of extremism, it was not happening quickly enough.
"I think that the Pakistani government understands the threat that exists within its own borders," he said.
"Now, progress is not as quick as we would like," he added, explaining that the Pakistani military faced difficulties cracking down on extremists in the rugged north-west of the country close to the Afghan border.
The US administration recognised that progress would not happen overnight, he added, saying they would continue to support Pakistan in its efforts.
One of the first questions posed to Mr Obama, after he was introduced by the first lady, Michelle Obama, was how he would define the word jihad, a term used to refer to violence in Islam. Mr Obama responded by speaking about the peaceful message that Islam preaches. "The challenge is to isolate extremists," he said. "You must observe your faith without violence."
The president also answered questions about balancing spirituality over materialism.
Mr Obama said he regularly reads and tries to follow the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr, but "I find myself constantly falling short of their examples."
For a country such as India, where immense poverty still rules the lives of the majority of the one billion population, he urged pupils to work on developing education and help those around them.
In response to the final question about the planned 2011 withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, Mr Obama responded by saying that India's investment in development in Afghanistan is appreciated and that "Pakistan has to be a partner in this process."
In a day that followed a series of business deal announcements with India to boost the US economy, Mr Obama rolled up his sleeves and sat back to enjoy the festivities of Diwali, the festival of lights, the Indian national holiday. Imparting a sense of informality, Mrs Obama joined her husband at the Holy Name School in Colaba, in South Mumbai, to watch children perform traditional dances. Mr Obama clapped along as the couple watched the performances, including the Koli, a lively dance of Mumbai's indigenous fishing community.
Mrs Obama spontaneously broke into dance with the group of pupils, matching their steps before the president joined the dance with the first lady. On Saturday, Mrs Obama danced to Rang De Basanti, a popular Bollywood song when visiting a group of college students who volunteer their time to teach English to orphans.
The performances were followed by an online interaction through a video link with the villagers in Kanpura, in Rajasthan, who talked to Mr Obama about how their lives had been transformed by technology.
The president and first lady then departed for Delhi to visit Humayun's tomb, a tomb Mughal ruler Humayun dedicated to his wife Hamida Benu Begum in 1562. The trip was to be followed by a visit to the US Embassy and a dinner with the embassy staff and Indian politicians.
Today, Mr Obama will address India's parliament.
sbhattacharya@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting from Agence France-Presse
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
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Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
