Washington, Nov 5: The US Friday said it supports and encourages resolution of issues between India and Pakistan through dialogue.
“Washington supports and encourages both India and Pakistan to resolve their bilateral issues directly,” National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement before the departure of US President Barack Obama to India.
 He also noted that Islamabad has nothing to fear from Washington's growing ties with New Delhi.
 “India is an indispensable partner rising on global stage and that lifting restrictions on export control of high technology items and counter-terrorism measures were on the agenda during summit talks,” he said.
 Obama today left for India as part of his four-nation Asia trip that would also take him to Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.
 The Air Force One aircraft carrying 49-year old Obama along with the First Lady Michelle took off from the Andrews Air Force Base for a 10-day visit to Asia.
 Obama, dressed in a suit and tie, and the first lady in a slate blue dress with cream detail, a camel-coloured jacket and black boots, boarded the plane at 7:35 p m IST, waving to the cameras.
 The presidential plane would have a stop-over at Ramstein in Germany for refueling, and his scheduled arrival in Mumbai is 12:50 pm tomorrow.
 Obama said he would seek to pry open the Indian market for American businesses during his maiden visit to the country that is expected to give a fresh impetus to bilateral strategic and economic partnership.
 In a statement before leaving for his four-nation Asia tour, Obama said he would be talking about opening up of additional markets in countries like India as American jobs depended greatly on American exports.
 He said his administration had set a goal of doubling US exports over the next five years to create more jobs back home.
 "It is absolutely clear that the key to creating new jobs is opening markets for American goods made by American workers.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 5 Nov 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 5 Nov 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 6 Nov 2010 00:00:00 IST