Vibrant & promising India has a natural friend in US: Obama

US President Barack Obama has greeted people of India on the occasion of the country's 63rd Independence Day saying that a vibrant and promising India has a natural friend in the United States.

"India has attained unprecedented milestones as its democracy has matured. Boasting a vast diversity of ethnicities and languages, India constitutes the largest democratic union the world has ever known," Obama said in his message.

The President said, "This vibrant and promising India has a natural friend in the United States. Our people are bound by common values and ideals, and Indian-Americans contribute to all aspects of American life."

In an unusually long one-page message personally signed by him on August 12, Obama noted that the fate of the two countries was tied by the interconnected nature of the world and a shared vision of peace, prosperity and respect for human rights.

Highly impressed by its economic growth, Obama said economically India was forging a new path. Fulfilling the promise of internationally competitive institutes of higher education, Indian professionals are leading their nation into a new phase of growth.

"From Bangalore to Boston; Indian scientists, engineers and thinkers are generating ideas and prosperity that improve and save lives across India and the globe," Obama said.