Bush proud of Indo-US ties: White House

In the backdrop of controversy over Democratic Presidential hopeful Barrack Obama's comments on his party rival Hillary Clinton's connections with Indian-Americans, the White House has said President George W Bush is 'proud' of the relationship between India and the United States.

"The President, obviously, is proud of the growing closeness between United States and Indians," White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said on Tuesday when asked to comment on Obama's comments that have peeved many in the
Indian-American community.

The Obama Campaign had drawn up a document that took aim at Clinton's support from an Indian-American businessman and companies that do business in India. It referred to Clinton as 'Mrs Clinton D-Punjab'.

"Not to be holding a brief for Senator Obama, but I don't believe that he made comments of that sort. I do believe
that was a staff comment for which he issued apologies," the White House Spokesman said.

"But having said that, it is important to realise that the United States looks upon India as the world's largest democracy, as an important and vital ally in a whole host of things -- regional security, global trade, climate change. I mean, the role of and the importance of India are not to be understated. And we are certainly glad that the relations between the nations continue to draw closer," Snow added.

In a meeting with reporters, Senator Obama called the document put out by his campaign as a 'screw up' and that it was 'stupid' and 'caustic' and something that was not seen by him or his senior staffers. 

Maintaining the contents were not reflective of his views, Obama said that he has had long-standing support from the Indo-American community, and that outsourcing is a complicated issue.

"Look, I'm running for President, and there are certain conventions we engage in. I have to raise money. It would be wonderful if we didn't. Opposition research is part of the game that's played, partly because you guys rely on it for stories," Senator Obama is reported to have said. "I'm not so naive as to believe I can win without being rough
and tumble".

And in an interview with rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa, Senator Obama said that he was 'furious' when he heard about
the issue and stressed that his campaign was taking 'corrective action to make sure that people understand how
this could be potentially hurtful'.

'My support among Indian Americans, South Asians, and Asian Americans generally, has been very strong and that's
the culture within which I was raised, as having grown up in Hawaii and Asia myself', he added in that interview.

'I think what happened was that the people who were writing the memo thought that to quote back Hillary Clinton
was clever somehow. They were wrong and I let them know in no uncertain terms that this was unacceptable', the Illinois Democrat said.