Obama adminstration accords high importance to ties with India in 2009

The Indo-US strategic relations deepened further in 2009 which saw installation of Barack Obama as the first black president, who attached high importance to bilateral ties and invited prime minister Manmohan Singh as his first State Guest.

Almost every step of the Obama administration since it assumed office on January 20 indicated that the US valued its relationship with India and wanted to deepen the bond between the two countries — the world's oldest democracy and the world's largest democracy.

Obama called India a natural ally of the United States and to showcase the world that how much he valued the relationship, he invited prime minister Singh as his first State Guest.

"Prime minister, as we work to build the future, India is indispensable," Obama told Singh as he welcomed him at the White House on November 24.

The US president also for the first time acknowledged India as a nuclear power. During Singh's State Visit, the two countries also reaffirmed their commitment to take forward the historic Indo-US civil nuclear deal signed during the  previous Bush administration.

"I believe that the relationship between the United States and India will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century," Obama had said. The US president has been very keen that the two countries build a strong relationship in the field of counter-terrorism measures and share intelligence on a day-to-day basis. This is the reason why CIA chief Leon Panetta and FBI director Robert Mueller visited India in the first few months of the Obama administration.

As president-elect, Obama was among the first few who picked up his phone and called the then Indian ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, in the middle of the Mumbai terrorist attacks and promised him all support.

In fact, Obama himself is taking keen interest in the cases of American David Coleman Headley, arrested by FBI on charges of plotting the Mumbai terror attacks, and Canadian Tahawwur Hussian Rana, who is in FBI custody on charges of plotting attacks against India at LeT's behest.

He has issued specific instructions to his administration to share all possible information with India on this matter.

Authorities believe that the relationship between the intelligence agencies of the two countries have reached a new height.

The Obama administration has been honest in giving credit to this new dependable relationship with India to the 43rd president of the United States George W Bush."Well, I think if we look at the modern relationship between India and the United States, I am very proud of the fact that it started under my husband (Bill Clinton), and the kind of steps he took to open doors and have people-to-people diplomacy, as well as government-to-government.

"And I give president Bush credit for focusing on our relationship, our bilateral relationship," secretary of state Hillary Clinton said during a visit To India early this year.

Also as Obama was being attacked by the opposition Republicans on almost all fronts; it was only his India policy which came in for unanimous praise in the political circle here.

A testament to this was the unanimous resolution passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate welcoming prime minister Singh's visit and the Indo-US relationship.

Both the resolutions recognised that a strong relationship between the two countries, based on mutual trust and respect, will enable them to collaborate more closely across a broad spectrum of interests.

When Obama entered the White House, riding on an anti-Bush wave, as the first African-American President of the US, in the middle of two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a sinking economy, there was hardly any policy which the new administration did not said it was not reviewing.