An inspiration for all: India

India hailed Barack Obama’s election as the next US President on Wednesday, saying his “historic” and “extraordinary journey” to the White House would be an inspiration to all.

India hailed Barack Obama’s election as the next US President on Wednesday, saying his “historic” and “extraordinary journey” to the White House would be an inspiration to all.

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President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh joined world leaders in sending congratulatory messages to Obama.

Singh spoke about the shared commitment to freedom, justice, pluralism, individual rights and democracy that provide “a solid bedrock for friendship and strategic partnership”.

“Our two countries working together to address global issues and challenges will be an important factor for world peace, stability and progress,” Singh, said in his message to Obama.

“The people of India, who have closely followed the US election process with unprecedented interest, see your election as a historic mandate of the people of the United States of America,” Patil said in her message to Obama.

Patil also stressed the need to build on the strong partnership developed in recent years and face the unprecedented common challenges at the global level relating to threats from “dark forces” of terror and the changing climate.

But leaders of the two major political parties also used the Obama victory to score political points.

BJP leader L.K. Advani said the Obama victory showed the US voters felt the need for a change and same inclination was now prevailing among the voters in India too to vote for the BJP.

Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari stressed on the party’s historic ties with both the Democrats and the Republicans, spokesman Abhishek Singhvi expressed confidence that Indo-US ties would grow under the US’s first African-American president.

But Singhvi also used the Obama’s win to take a dig at the BJP.

“While the President-elect has aspired to send a message of hope and bipartisanship, here there seems to be trouble,” he said, an oblique reference to the different voices emanating from the saffron camp over Pragya Thakur who was arrested for her alleged role in the Malegaon blasts.