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MUMBAI - Days after reaping the political consequences of a poor economy, President Obama intends to announce a series of reforms Saturday to increase trade between the United States and India, his first stop on a 10-day Asian tour focused largely on promoting economic growth at home.
In an address to several hundred American and Indian chief executives in this seaside commercial hub, Obama will announce changes in the export-control system that guides trade between the two countries, administration officials said. Those include removing several Indian space and defense companies from the so-called entities list, which identifies firms that make products with dual civilian and military purposes and makes it more difficult for them to trade with the United States.
Obama will also tell the U.S.-India Business Council that he will support India's membership to four international alliances responsible for regulating trade in nuclear, chemical and biological materials, including the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Indian leaders have aspired to membership, but U.S. non-proliferation groups immediately criticized the move for weakening the world's ability to monitor nuclear trade.
Obama touched down just before 1 p.m. local time in a country whose leaders and people have high hopes for his visit. His three-day stay follows months of perceived drift in a relationship that administration officials say is central to Obama's ambitions in Asia.
The high U.S. unemployment rate played a central role in midterm elections that went sharply against Obama's party, and he intends to speak more directly throughout his Asian trip about how his foreign policy goals relate to U.S. economic interests.
Administration officials say he will take part in announcing a set of business deals, some of them in the works for months, after a meeting with American chief executives at the business forum. The agreements - including sales of military transport aircraft, diesel engines, jet engines and other U.S. manufacturing products -- total $10 billion and support 54,000 jobs in the United States, according to administration officials.
"A president's visit is an action-forcing event," said Michael Froman, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs. "It helps concentrate the minds of decision makers."
Although the primary focus of his visit here is improving economic relations, Obama's first stop represented a show of solidarity with the Indian people.
He made his way -- first by helicopter, then motorcade -- to the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, a focal point of the November 2008 terrorist attacks by a group of men from Pakistan. Gunmen killed more than 170 people, including Americans, over a days-long siege.
Obama and first lady Michelle Obama each placed a white rose on a memorial to the victims. The president then signed the hotel guest book before telling the roughly 50 people gathered - family members of those killed, survivors and hotel employees present for the Nov. 26 attacks -- what "an extraordinary honor it is to be here in India."
"To those who ask if this is designed to send a message, my answer is simply: Absolutely," Obama said of his first stop. "In our determination to give our people a future of security and prosperity, the United States and India stand united."
Obama did not mention the role of Pakistan, an essential if unpredictable U.S. ally in the Afghanistan war. Indian authorities have accused Pakistan's intelligence service of training the gunmen, an allegation that Pakistan's government has denied.
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