Obama meets Manmohan, quotes India as a big part of his plan

US President Barack Obama met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the first time after winning the re-election on Tuesday.

During the meet Obama told Manmohan Singh that "India is a big part of my plan ". Both of them met on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Nov 20, 2012.

Though, the meeting was short and unstructured, but the two met and shook hands warmly as old friends, anIndian officials said. The President congratulated Obama for winning the presidential election for the second time.

Obama reached their after visiting Myanmar where he went to meet the democratic leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi, who had just returned from her India visit.

Separately, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon met his American counterpart Tom Donilon for 90 minutes, an Indian official said.

Prior to the departure of Obama from Washington, Donilon had made a brief outline of the administration's Asia policy, especially ties with its two big powers including India and China.

He has said that while the US has "given a full embrace of India's rise", its ties with Beijing were more complex with "elements of both cooperation and competition".

"The relationship with India is obviously rooted in history and it's rooted in a shared system of democracy. And it's a unique relationship that we're building out. It has different aspects to it," Donilon said in response to a searching question from an Indonesian diplomat.

"The relationship with China is more complex." Donilon said. "We're trying to build a relationship and a complicated relationship, multi-dimensional relationship that's profoundly important to both nations and to the world, between two systems that are very different.

"With respect to India, we have given a full embrace of India's rise. The president went to India on a three-day trip, as you know, and stood beneath the picture of Mahatma Gandhi, and called for India's membership in a reformed Security Council”, he added.

"It's a full embrace of India's rise as a partner. And again, as two of the most important democracies in the world, it's an important strategic thrust for us as well," he said

-With inputs from IANS