US has built new partnership with India: Obama to Congress

President Barack Obama today said that his administration has built a new partnership with India, as the US has stepped up efforts to ensure global peace and prosperity. Obama visited India in November last year.

Building new relationship with countries like India, Obama said is part of his efforts to shape a world that favors peace and prosperity.

"With our European allies, we revitalised NATO, and increased our cooperation on everything from counter-terrorism to missile defence," Obama said.

We have reset our relationship with Russia, strengthened Asian alliances, and built new partnerships with nations like India, Obama said in his annual State of the Union Address to the Congress.

"This March, I will travel to Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador to forge new alliances for progress in the Americas," he added.

"Around the globe, we are standing with those who take responsibility, helping farmers grow more food; supporting doctors who care for the sick; and combating the corruption that can rot a society and rob people of opportunity," he said.

Obama said the American leadership can also be seen in the effort to secure the worst weapons of war.

"Because Republicans and Democrats approved the New START Treaty, far fewer nuclear weapons and launchers will be deployed," he said.

Because we rallied the world, nuclear materials are being locked down on every continent so they never fall into the hands of terrorists, he added.

"Because of a diplomatic effort to insist that Iran meet its obligations, the Iranian government now faces tougher and tighter sanctions than ever before, Obama said. And on the Korean peninsula, we stand with our ally South Korea, and insist that North Korea keeps its commitment to abandon nuclear weapons, he added.

"This is just a part of how we are shaping a world that favors peace and prosperity," he asserted.

"Recent events have shown us that what sets us apart must not just be our power ?" it must be the purpose behind it. In South Sudan, with our assistance, the people were finally able to vote for independence after years of war.

Thousands lined up before dawn. People danced in the streets. One man who lost four of his brothers at war summed up the scene around him: "This was a battlefield for most of my life. Now we want to be free," he said.

"We saw that same desire to be free in Tunisia, where the will of the people proved more powerful than the writ of a dictator.

And tonight, let us be clear: the United States of America stands with the people of Tunisia, and supports the democratic aspirations of all people," he said.