Washington, Nov. 9 : A former Deputy National Security Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan has called on U. S. President-elect Barack Obama to deal quickly with the issues of Kashmir and Afghanistan.

“India has resisted U. S. mediation on Kashmir in the past, but the growing U. S.-India strategic relationship may now make American involvement possible,” The News quoted Meghan O’Sullivan, as saying in an article for a foreign newspaper.

New Delhi/Chicago, Nov. 9 : Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is yet to receive a call from U. S. president-elect Barack Obama.

According to sources, officialdom in New Delhi is concerned that Obama has put Dr. Singh low on the list of world leaders he has telephoned since Thursday, though congratulatory messages have been sent by President Pratibha Patil and Dr. Singh soon after Obama won the race for the White House on November 4.

So far, Obama has spoken to 15 world leaders, including Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.

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Singapore  - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the President-elect Barack Obama win in Tuesday's elections did not mean race was no longer an issue in the United States.

"People were tired, they wanted something different, and Mr Obama represented something different," the Sunday Times quoted Lee as saying.

Obama's victory marked a "historic change" for America, he said during a community dialogue on Saturday.

Washington - Congressional leaders Saturday joined president-elect Barack Obama's call for support of the ailing auto industry, sending a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to tap money from the 700-billion-dollar financial rescue package.

"A healthy automobile manufacturing sector is essential to the restoration of financial market stability, the overall health of our economy, and the livelihood of the automobile sector's workforce," said Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt - With an admitted US failure to make Middle East peace a reality before the end of this year as promised by the now outgoing US President George W Bush, the international Quartet on the Middle East is meeting on Sunday with Palestinian and Israeli delegations in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The ministerial-level Quartet will hear from both the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on what blocked the anticipated peace deal.