"The strong people-to-people relationship makes it more important for the two government for a closer ties," Obama told reporters in a joint news conference with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Oval Office of the White House.
"And you know, I think all of us recognise that as the world's two largest democracies, countries that have for a very long time been invested in, you know, the peace and prosperity of their own people, that there is a natural convergence between the United States and India," Obama told a battery of reporters after his meeting with Singh.
"Now Miss America is of Indian-American descent. I think it's a signal of how close our countries are," Obama said in his remarks.
Early this month, Nina Davuluri became the first Indian-American ever to be crowned Miss America.