United States Senator Barack Obama, Illinois Democrat, has become the first Presidential candidate to issue a detailed and comprehensive policy paper spelling out his agenda vis-�-vis addressing issues of concern to the Indian-American community and his vision for US-India relations.

Obama also seems to have recovered strongly from the faux pas by his campaign when it circulated a controversial document that disparagingly described his rival Senator Hillary Clinton's Indian links and had the Indian-American community up in arms.

Exclusive! Obama: We screwed up

On foreign policy, the new paper said: "Barack Obama is an advocate of strengthening US relations with India, the world's largest democracy and a growing economic power."

It noted that he had voted for the India civilian nuclear cooperation deal in 2006 and has since worked to ensure that the agreement is implemented properly.

The paper said: "Obama also believes that India is a natural strategic partner for America in the 21^st century and that the United States should be working with India on a range of critical issues, from preventing terrorism and fostering economic development to promoting peace and stability in Asia."

"As president," the paper pledged, "Obama will make building a stronger relationship with India a top priority."

The  policy paper titled 'Barack Obama: Working For the Indian-American Community,' says at the outset that as a community organiser, civil rights lawyer, and elected official, Barack Obama has spent his career working on issues of importance to Indian-Americans.

It said that Obama is proud to have worked side-by-side with Indian Americans on a variety of issues, including civil rights, foreign policy, health care, and education, and that he looks forward to strengthening his relationship with Indian-Americans during his presidential administration.

On the economy, the paper said that Obama would support job creation and the innovation economy, invest in the sciences, expand broadband access, and invest in small businesses, and noted that many Indian-Americans are successful small business owners who help grow the American economy by providing needed jobs and services throughout the country.

The paper also said the candidate as president would also raise the minimum wage and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, and noted that about 10 percent of the Indian American community lives below the federal poverty level.

While offering Obama's pledge to improve legal immigration, the paper also said he will safeguard and streamline the family reunification process, and noted that many Indian-American families rely on family reunification policies to assist them build better lives in the United States.

"However, Indian American families have some of the longest immigration backlogs," the paper acknowledged, and spoke of how in the most recent immigration debate on the US Senate floor, Obama fought to improve and pass a comprehensive bill, and had introduced amendments to put greater emphasis on keeping immigrant families together and to revisit a controversial new points system that would dramatically alter US immigration policy.