US President Barack Obama has opened his 10-day Asia trip on a sombre note, remembering the victims of the devastating attacks that tore through Mumbai two years ago.
Obama spoke at the Taj Mahal hotel, a target of the 60-hour siege that killed 166 people across the city. His speech came after a private meeting with relatives of those killed in the November 2008 attack.
The president said he intended to send a signal by making Mumbai the first stop on his four-country trip and by staying at the Taj.
He and first lady Michelle Obama visited an outdoor memorial, an open-air fountain with floating flowers just off the lobby at the Taj, and he signed a memorial book.
Later in the day, Obama announced a host of new trade deals with India, supporting tens of thousands of US jobs.
Intent on demonstrating his attention to the sluggish US economy even while overseas, Obama also told a meeting of US and Indian executives that the US would relax some export regulations that have complicated trade between America and this fast-growing country of 1.2 billion people.
Speaking to the US-India Business Council, Obama said it should be a 'win-win' relationship, but in a nod to US sensibilities he also acknowledged concerns in the US about outsourcing.
He said people in India also were concerned about the impact of US goods coming into their country, but contended that growing trade could only benefit both sides in the long run.
