Hillary Clinton welcomes Indian guests at the White House. (Reuters)

Washington, Nov. 24: Nearly a decade after India described the US as a “natural ally”, President Barack Obama acknowledged this description and announced his decision to visit New Delhi next year.

Obama said India was an “indispensable” partner as “our nations... two global leaders... build a future of security and prosperity for all nations”.

Addressing a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House, after a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which went beyond their schedule by half an hour, Obama appreciated “Indian investment in America (which) is creating and sustaining jobs across the US” at its time of serious economic crisis.

He also envisaged a future for Indo-US relations in terms of extensive people-to-people contacts, assuring the first state guest of his presidency that “as India assumes its rightful place as a global leader in this century... you will have no better friend and partner than the United States of America”.

Dispelling speculation that Indo-US ties would cool with the exit of George W. Bush from the White House, the Prime Minister said that in his discussions with Obama, “there was a meeting of minds on the future direction of our relations” and that he was “deeply impressed” by the US President’s “strong commitment to the India-US strategic partnership and by the breadth of his vision for global peace and prosperity”.

Obama unequivocally committed his administration to the full implementation of the nuclear deal with India, describing the deal to his people as an opportunity to “increase American exports and create jobs”.

Announcing a clean-energy initiative with India, a green partnership and a “historic effort” to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, Obama declared that “we have made progress in confronting climate change”, including what to do at an international conference on the subject opening in Copenhagen next month. ( )

Two days before the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on Mumbai, the two leaders agreed to share more intelligence information and bring together Indian and American law enforcement and intelligence agencies in an effort to prevent such attacks in future.

To peals of laughter, the US President said they had decided to christen their plans for joint efforts in education as “a new Obama-Singh or Singh-Obama 21st Century Knowledge Initiative”.

Other agreements between the two leaders today included collaboration between Indian and US researchers to improve agricultural output and reduce hunger, not only in India but around the world and a partnership between America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and their Indian counterparts to create a new disease detection centre in India to combat infectious diseases and promote global health.

Although the elaborate welcome ceremonies for Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur, on the South lawn of the White House had to be dispensed with in view of inclement weather, the day’s proceedings in the American presidential mansion were high on sentiment and atmospherics.

The Prime Minister received a 19-gun salute and a truncated guard of honour because it had to be held indoors.Obama addressed the Indian media at the joint conference with a namaste while Singh spontaneously said at the end of his response to Obama’s welcome remarks earlier with a “God bless America, God bless India,” words which were not in text circulated by the Indian side.

The height of sentiment was when Obama said in answer to a question from an Indian correspondent that India and the US were “natural allies”.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had coined that description in 2000 and it has been successively used by Indians without any American in any administration ever acknowledging it or returning the compliment.

But Obama did and the Indians were mighty pleased that their description of the bilateral relationship had been accepted after almost a decade.

Obama said the history of India and the US is “the story of two economic marvels fueled by an ethic of hard work and innovation.… As leading economies, the US 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.

“As nuclear powers, we can be full partners in preventing the spread of the world’s most deadly weapons, securing loose nuclear materials from terrorists, and pursuing our shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons.”

In his reply, Singh said “this is a moment of great opportunity in our relationship. India and the US can, and must, work together to harness the immense potential of our talented and enterprising people, and support each other’s growth and prosperity. We should co-operate in addressing global challenges of combating terrorism, making our environment cleaner and moving towards a world free of nuclear weapons.”