US President Barack Obama yesterday hailed deeper and closer alliance with his host India, which he said had established itself as a world power and a natural US ally on the global stage.
Mr Obama delighted his hosts by saying the US would support India’s bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Coucil.
He heaped praise on the country and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the end of a three-day trip, which saw a raft of commercial deals signed and agreements to cooperate more closely in agriculture, health and energy.
The President said that the principles of democracy and human rights were too often ignored around the world, but India and the US would combine to promote them in “one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century”.
“For our two countries to be able stand together to promote these principles in international forums, I think can be incredibly powerful and incredibly important,” he said at a joint press conference with Mr Singh.
Previously, Mr Obama described India as “indispensable” and a “cornerstone” of US policy in Asia, where analysts say the democratic South Asia giant is seen as a counterweight to increasingly assertive and authoritarian China.
Mr Obama’s courtship of India reflects the rapid growth in the country’s economy and a shift in power to emerging nations as a result of the global financial crisis, which has hit Western powers hard.
During his address in the Indian Parliament Mr Obama said: “As two global leaders, the United States and India can partner for global security – especially as India serves on the Security Council over the next two years.
“Indeed the just and sustainable international order that America seeks includes a United Nations that is efficient, effective, credible and legitimate.
“And that is why I can say today, in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed United Nations Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.”
Mr Singh, who enjoys a close and friendly relationship with Mr Obama, said the allies would now work as “equal partners”, while the US President stressed earlier that India was now “a world power”, rather than an emerging one.
“We have decided to accelerate the deepening of ties to work as equal partners in a strategic relationship,” Mr Singh told the press conference.
Mr Obama’s remarks will be closely watched elsewhere in Asia, particularly in China, which will be weighing the geopolitical implications of the embrace ahead of talks between Mr Obama and President Hu Jintao in Seoul this week.
Relations between Delhi and Washington, characterised by mistrust and occasional hostility during the Cold War, were reset by former US president Bill Clinton in the 1990s and invigorated by his successor George W. Bush.
Mr Obama arrived in New Delhi on Sunday after paying homage to victims of terror attacks in Mumbai and seeking job-creating dividends for the struggling US economy in India’s commercial hub.
He unveiled $10 billion in trade deals designed to bankroll US jobs and announced the relaxation of export controls on US technology that can be used for military applications.
The latter move reflected how Washington’s view of India as a strategic partner rather than “a country of concern,” one of Mr Obama’s advisers said on Saturday.
Today, Mr Obama will travel to his childhood home in Indonesia, before heading to the G20 summit in Seoul and the APEC gathering of Asia-Pacific leaders in Japan.