Email
Print
ShareWASHINGTON: President Barack Obama welcomed prime minister Manmohan Singh to the White House by saying that India, a leader in Asia and around the world, was "indispensable" to the United States.
The elaborate welcome on the White House South Lawn was rained out but Obama made up by being more than effusive in his praise for India. "This visit reflects the high esteem in which I and the American people hold your wise leadership," Obama told Singh after the anthems of both nations were played at the welcome ceremony.
"Mr Prime Minister, as we work to build that future, India is indispensable. As leading economies, the United States and India can strengthen the global economic recovery, promote trade that creates jobs for both our people and pursue growth that is balanced and sustained," Obama said.
"Ours is a story of two economic marvels," the US president said, calling ties between America and India "one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century".
"Your visit at this pivotal moment in history speaks to the opportunity before us to build the relationship between our nations," the US president said to appreciative applause by the Indian-American audience. Reiterating his non-proliferation goals, Obama said as nuclear powers, India and US "can be full partners" in preventing the spread of the world's most deadly weapons, securing loose nuclear materials from terrorists, and pursuing a shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons.
(With agencies )
