Remarks by the President at Official Arrival Ceremony in New Delhi, India

Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, India

9:57 A.M. IST

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  First of all, I want to thank all the people of India for the extraordinary hospitality and welcome that Michelle and I and my delegation have already received.

And we took this trip with the intention of strengthening what is already an incredible friendship between the United States and India.  As I’ve said earlier during my visit, I believe that the partnership between the United States and India will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century.  We are the two largest democracies in the world.  We share extraordinary people-to-people contacts.  Most importantly, we share a core set of values.

And my hope is that during the course of these discussions between myself and the Prime Minister, myself and the President, and other members of the Indian delegation, that we will be able to continue to build on the commercial ties that we already have to strengthen our cooperation in our bilateral relations in the international economy; that we’ll be able to focus on issues like counterterrorism in order to assure that both the United States and India are secure well into the future; that we can build on the people-to-people ties that are in part grounded in the millions of Indian-Americans who contribute so much to our country and help give us an appreciation of Indian life; and that, given that India is not simply an emerging power but now is a world power, that the United States and India will be able to work together to promote the international principles, the rules of interaction between nations that can promote peace and stability and prosperity not only for our two nations but for the world as a whole.

So, to all the people of India, Michelle and I express our extraordinary thanks for the wonderful hospitality that we’ve received, and also we want to send our warmest regards from the people of the United States to all the people of India.

Thank you so much.

END              10:00 A.M. IST