Obama thanks Modi for strengthening Indo-US ties

January 19, 2017

Washington, Jan 19: Outgoing US President Barack Obama telephoned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to thank him for his partnership that enhanced the relations between India and America, the White House has said.

Obama spoke on the phone with Modi yesterday to thank him for "his partnership" and to review joint efforts of cooperation including defence, civil-nuclear energy, and enhanced people-to-people ties, a readout of the telephonic conversation between the two leaders said.

"Recalling his visit as the chief guest at India's Republic Day celebrations in 2015, President Obama wished the Prime Minister warm congratulations ahead of India's upcoming 68th Republic Day anniversary," the White House said.

"Both leaders discussed the progress they have made on shared economic and security priorities, including recognition of India as a major defense partner of the United States and addressing the global challenge of climate change," it said.

Obama was one of the first leaders to congratulate Modi after his electoral victory in May 2014 and immediately invited him to visit the White House.

The two leaders met at the White House in September 2014. Since then they have met each other for eight times. This is a record for leaders between India and America.

According to Assistant Secretary of State for South and central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal, the two leaders share a very warm relationship.

"They have a great deal of personal camaraderie. But they also have a great deal of respect for each other for the leadership and the values and the integrity of each other's approach," Biswal said in a recentl interview.

"You have seen from President Obama that appreciation of Prime Minister Modi in words that he has used to describe him including in that Time magazine profile of the Prime Minister. You have seen that Prime Minister Modi's appreciation of President Obama, of his values, his leadership style which the Prime Minister has used to describe the President," she said.

She said that it is not a relationship that just came about that day when President called Prime Minister-elect Modi to congratulate him.

"The seeds of this relationship were actually sown many many decades earlier," Biswal had said.

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Pak jail authorities say Imran Khan is alive and healthy after ‘murder’ rumours spark panic

News Network

November 27,2025

Authorities at Pakistan’s high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on Wednesday dismissed speculation about the condition of imprisoned former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, rejecting rumours that he had been moved out of the facility or was in danger. Officials said Khan was in “good health” and described the viral death claims as “baseless.”

“There is no truth to reports about his transfer from Adiala Jail,” the Rawalpindi prison administration said in a statement, according to Geo News. “He is fully healthy and receiving complete medical attention.”

Amid swirling rumours on social media, Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), urged the federal government to issue an official clarification and demanded that authorities allow his family to meet him immediately, Dawn reported.

The frenzy began after Khan’s three sisters called for an impartial probe into what they described as a “brutal” police assault on them and other PTI supporters outside Adiala Jail last week. Soon after, several social media handles circulated unverified claims alleging that Khan had been “killed” inside the prison.

The rumours intensified when a handle named “Afghanistan Times” claimed that “credible sources” had confirmed Khan’s “murder” and that his body had been moved out of the jail — allegations that have not been verified by any credible agency.

Imran Khan, PTI’s patron-in-chief, has been lodged in the Rawalpindi prison since August 2023 in multiple cases. For over a month, an undeclared restriction has prevented family members and senior PTI leaders from meeting him. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has reportedly been denied access despite making seven attempts.

In a letter to Punjab Police Chief Usman Anwar, Khan’s sisters — Noreen Niazi, Aleema Khan, and Dr. Uzma Khan — said they were “peacefully protesting” outside the jail when police allegedly launched an unprovoked assault after streetlights were switched off.

“At 71, I was seized by my hair, thrown to the ground and dragged across the road,” Noreen Niazi said, alleging that other women present were also slapped and manhandled.

Adiala Jail officials reiterated that speculation over Imran Khan’s health was unfounded and insisted that his well-being was being ensured, Geo News reported.

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