Washington, DC – The United States welcomed the new president of India, Pranab Mukherjee as he was sworn in as the 13th president on July 25, 2012. In a statement to India America Today, Renee Lee, Press Officer and Spokesperson for the US State Department said, “The United States values our strategic partnership with India, which President Obama has cast as a “defining” relationship for the 21st century.”
“President (elect) Mukherjee has been a constructive partner in the US-India relationship over the past decade in numerous high-level positions, and we look forward to working closely with him in his new capacity to strengthen our relationship and advance our shared strategic agenda,” Lee added.
Addressing Indian lawmakers and other dignitaries in the Central Hall of Parliament, New Delhi, President Mukherjee in his acceptance speech said, “We are in the midst of a fourth world war; the third was the Cold War, but it was very warm in Asia, Africa and Latin America till it ended in the early 1990s. The war against terrorism is the fourth; and it is a world war because it can raise its evil head anywhere in the world.”
“As Swami Vivekananda in his soaring metaphor said, India will be raised, not with the power of flesh but with the power of the spirit, not with the flag of destruction, but with the flag of peace and love. Bring all the forces of good together. Do not care what be your color-green, blue or red, but mix all the colors up and produce that intense glow of white, the color of love. Ours is to work, the results will take care of themselves,” noted the new Indian president. (IATNS)