omaba india tour

New Delhi: Declaring ‘bahut dhanyavaad’ to the people of India for their warm reception, US President Barack Obama told the Indian Parliament that partnership between India and the US will define the 21st Century and that India was already a global power.

Obama declared that like India was a prominent member of various international bodies like the G20, the US would welcome India as it prepared to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

“In future, I would look forward to India as permanent member of United Nations Security Council,” Obama said to deafening applause, adding “..with great power comes responsibility,”.

He said India and other countries aspiring for membership in UNSC will need to work together with other powers for a safer world – including sanctioning of Iran if needed.

This was a major demand of India which was expected to come up in the President’s speech.

On the issue of Pakistan, he urged an end of terror against India.

”The safe havens to terrorists in Pakistan are unacceptable. The perpetrators of Mumbai attacks should be brought to justice,” he said.

“I bring the greetings of from the people of the world’s greatest democracy, the USA. I thank you for the honour of letting me address the Parliament of one billion Indians,” he said, beginning his speech to repeated applause.

Taking forward his tone that India had already risen, Obama said it was not an accident that his India-stay was the longest ever in his career.
He said the world’s information age is rooted Indian work what with the zero being invented here. He invoked Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi to convey how special the place of India is in the world since eternity.

“Gandhiji inspired me to be the change we seek in the world. After making his pilgrimage to India Dr Martin Luther King noted that Gandhi’s philosophy was the only way to make progress in this era,” he said, declaring that he stood before the MPs not as US President but as someone inspired by Gandhi.

He acknowledged how after independence at midnight India had launched various schemes like Green Revolution etc to uplift its people from poverty.

“The very idea and strength of India is embrace of all colors, all castes, all creeds….Swami Vivekananda said in Chicago that holiness is not the preserve of any particular religion or church,” he said, lauding the democracy of India where “every voice is heard.”

He acknowledged that relations between India and the US had transformed since the era of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and went on to elucidate on what could be “next”.

“The interests of US and India are best advanced in a partnership, I believe. We are two strong democracies whose constitutions begin with same great words – ‘We, the people’. We have free market economies and that is why I believe in this relationship,” he said.
He was received warmly at the gates of the Hall by Vice President Hamid Ansari, PM Manmohan Singh, Speaker Meira Kumar among others. From there he was led in a procession amidst applause from the assembled MPs to the spot where the new visitor’s book awaited his remarks. After signing the book, he took his seat on the podium with Ansari, PM Singh and Kumar.

Ansari gave the welcome speech where in he draw parallels between the values shared by America and India. He appreciated Obama’s international peace efforts at controlling nuclear proliferation, adding India itself was a prime promoter of non-prolifertaion.



The Hall saw full attendance of MPs – for the first time.

Obama addressed the two Houses of Parliament`s joint sitting in the Central Hall of Parliament House, which has been given a new look.

Obama read from a teleprompter brought in from the US which made its debut in the Parliament.

After predecessors Dwight Eisenhower in 1959, Jimmy Carter in 1978 and Bill Clinton in 2000, Obama is the fourth US President to address Indian Parliament. Before Obama, former Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addressed Indian MPs in 2007.

Learning from the embarrassing behaviour displayed by the Indian Members of the Parliament (MPs) during former US President George W Bush visit, the Parliament Affairs ministry had strictly advised the Parliamentarians to behave themselves.

Monday is the last day of Obama’s visit to India on his 10-day long Asia tour.