Obama calls Manmohan discuss issues of mutual interest,economy

Agree to work towards strengthening global economy to cope with Euro zone shocks

US President Barack Obama spoke with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over phone and discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest, the White House said.

The leaders also agreed to work to strengthen the global economy to cope with shocks from the Euro zone, the White House said in a statement yesterday.

"The leaders agreed on the importance of steps to strengthen the resilience of the global economy in response to persistent risks in the Eurozone and elsewhere and on focusing on measures to boost global growth," the statement said.

The President and the Prime Minster also agreed to work closely together towards a successful two-day G-20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, from June 18.

The summit is likely to be dominated by the crisis in Europe, which - combined with slowing growth in China and India - poses a threat to the world economy.

The call between the two leaders came after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks with visiting External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and other top officials.

On Monday, the US exempted Indian and six other countries from tough new sanctions after they cut back on oil from Iran.