Haven't Been To Taj With Michelle Yet, Obama Tells PM Modi

Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Barack Obama this afternoon in their eighth one-on-one interaction in the last two years.

The leaders are in Laos for the regional ASEAN (Association of South Eastern Nations) summit .  

President Obama and PM Modi met as America has emphatically backed India in its demand that Pakistan identify and punish the terrorists who attacked Mumbai in 2008 and the Pathankot air force base in January this year.  

In his speech at the South East Asian summit today, PM Modi described Pakistan without naming it as "one country in our neighbourhood whose competitive advantage rests solely in producing and exporting terrorism." The PM said it's crucial for countries to adopt an  "isolate and sanction" attitude against Islamabad.

At the G20 meeting of the leaders of the world's top economies held over the weekend, where President Obama was present, the PM referenced Pakistan as "a single nation spreading the agents of terror" in South Asia.

President Obama reportedly complimented the PM for his initiatives in economic reforms, in particular, the new GST or Goods and Services Tax, which was cleared last month by parliament and unifies India into a single market while doing away  with a messy jumble of national and state tariffs.

The PM invited President Obama to visit India after his term ends later this year, to which the US leader said that his wife, Michelle, and he have yet to see the Taj Mahal.