India-US ties based on mutual respect: Obama

New Delhi, Jan 23:

US President Barack Obama Friday said a good India-US relationship has to be based on mutual respect.

“On the most basic level, a good India-US relationship has to be based on the same principles as our successful partnerships with our other close partners and friends around the world,” Obama said in an interview to India Today magazine.

“That includes mutual respect, where even as we acknowledge our different histories and traditions, we value the strengths that we each bring to our relationship,” he said.

He said: “It includes recognizing our mutual interests that both our countries will be more secure, and our people will have more jobs and opportunities, when we are working together.”

The US president said while it was true that progress has not always come as fast as both sides would have liked, “we have succeeded in deepening the US-India relationship across the board”.

“In the last few years, we have increased trade between our two countries by about 60 percent, creating more jobs for Indians and Americans,” said, adding the militaries of the two countries are conducting more exercises together,” he said. IANS