MUMBAI - Nearly halfway through his term, President Barack Obama on Sunday acknowledged he must make some "midcourse corrections" if he is going to win over a frustrated electorate and work with empowered Republicans. Speaking on an economic tour of Asian nations, Obama told college students here that the midterm elections back home reflected the "right, obligation and duty" of people to express their unhappiness by voting out the incumbents. The president himself wasn't on the ballot last week, but his Democratic Party took a beating. Republicans won control of the House, eroded the Democratic majority in the Senate and made huge gains in state legislatures. Obama said he will not change his determination to invest money in education, infrastructure and clean energy at a time when the pressures in Washington are to slash spending. But he said the election "requires me to make some midcourse corrections and adjustments." He said how those will play out over the next several months will depend on his talks with Republicans. Obama took a range of questions from students at St. Xavier College, a Jesuit institution, on a sweltering day in this financial hub. When one person challenged him on US support of Pakistan, Obama said, "I must admit I expected it." India is deeply suspicious of neighboring Pakistan as a threat to its security, with memories still fresh of a terrorist shooting rampage in Mumbai in 2008, at the hand of Pakistani militants. Obama on Saturday spoke of US solidarity with India in honoring those slain in that attack, but his lack of any mention of Pakistan angered some India commentators. To the students, Obama said the United States cannot impose peace on India and Pakistan. But he tried to challenge the thinking of the students, defending US support of Pakistan and saying the country that has the biggest stake in Pakistan's stability is India. "So my hope is that over time, trust develops between the two countries, that dialogue begins ... and that both countries can prosper," the president said. "That will not happen tomorrow." Obama also reflected on the limits of his own success. He said he tries to follow the examples of the Rev. Martin Luther King and Mohandas K. Gandhi, particularly in making decisions that uphold people's rights and dignity everywhere. "It's not always apparent that I'm making progress on that front," the president said.
