India-Pakistan relations in the light of Obama's India visit

Prior to his departure, Obama had a lengthy interaction with students at the St. Xavier's College in central Mumbai. Michelle introduced her husband and urged the students to ask tough questions at him.

Obama in his address to the students appeared blunt and provided diplomatic answers to the questions put up by the students.
Obama did a more balancing act on questions relating to Pakistan. To a question from a student about Pakistan being a close and trusted ally and why the US had refrained from calling Pakistan a terrorist state, Obama said Pakistan is a strategically important country, not only for US but also for the entire world.
"The biggest stakeholder in a “stable and prosperous” Pakistan is India. If Pakistan is unstable, that would be bad for India. If Pakistan is good, prosperous and peaceful, that's good, because India is on the move. India does not want the distraction of security in her region," Obama said in reference to the question.
To another question, if US would mediate in talks between India and Pakistan, Obama replied in the negative.
"The US would not mediate in the talks between India and Pakistan, it is up to both the countries to mend fences. India and Pakistan can prosper and live side by side. And this can happen and should be the ultimate goal. The US can be a partner but cannot impose this process. India and Pakistan have to arrive at an understanding. My hope is that in time trust develops between both the countries and talks on less controversial issues building up to more controversial issues. The US will work with Pakistan in eradicating extremism. Pakistan understands the threats from extremism. They now understand the threats within their borders," Obama added.
Speaking diplomatically on Pakistan, Obama said Pakistan is an enormous country that is strategically important for US and the world, adding that within it are some extremist elements.
“What we have tried to do over the past year is to engage aggressively with Pakistan that we want nothing more than a stable, prosperous Pakistan. That we will work with Pakistan to eradicate extremism, which we consider a cancer that can engulf the country.”
Answering further the question, Obama said: "They (Pakistan) now understand the threats within their borders. Progress is not as quick as we'd like. In the Northwest territories they are very entrenched. The Pakistan Army has shifted focus on those areas. They have to adapt to these new dangers. They are not trained to do this. There is a growing recognition of the problem. Our feeling has been to be honest and forthright. Pakistan was born out of much tragedy and violence. May be surprising to some of you, but I think India has the biggest stake in the success of Pakistan. If Pakistan is unstable, that's bad for India. If it's' good and prosperous, that's good. India is on the move. My hope is over time, trust develops. Dialogue begins. I hope both can live side by side in peace. Will not happen tomorrow but hope to achieve that goal. We can't impose that on India and Pak. Eventually India and Pak have to work towards it," Obama added.
To  a question  from a student about the US president's opinion on Jihad and Jihadis, Obama as he lavished praise on Islam: The phrase jihad has a lot of meanings within Islam and is subject to different interpretations. Islam is one of the world's great religions. Of the more than a billion people who practice Islam, the overwhelming majority view their obligations to their religion as ones that reaffirm peace, fairness, tolerance. All of us recognize that this great religion in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted to violence, which is never justified. One of the challenges we face is how do we isolate those who have these distorted notions of religious war. We can all treat each other with respect and mutual dignity,"
Obama continuing further on the question said: "We should try to live up to universal principles and ideals that Gandhi so fought for. We live in nations of diverse religious beliefs. It's a major challenge in India and around the world. Young people can make a huge impact in reaffirming that you can be a strong observer of your faith, without putting somebody else down or visiting violence on somebody else. I think a lot of these ideas are formed very early and how you respond to each other is going to be as important as any speech that a president makes in encouraging the kind of religious tolerance that is so important, in a world that is getting smaller and smaller. More and more people of different background and different territories and ethnicities are interacting and learning from each other. All of us have to fundamentally reject the notion that violence is the way to mediate our differences."