Obama's India trip most successful South Asia trip ever: Blake

"President's November trip to India," the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, in his speech at the Syracuse University, New York, said turned out to be one of the most successful trips ever taken by an American president to South Asia.

The trip produced a number of significant new milestones that showed how US and India are working together to advance global peace, security and development and illustrate why Obama believes US relations with India constitute an "indispensable partnership" for the 21st century.

Blake said the big headline-maker was, of course, the President's endorsement of a reformed United Nations that includes India as a permanent member. "The endorsement of an Indian seat on a reformed UN Security Council, as a permanent member, reflects our confidence that it is a country with which we will be working ever more closely to advance global security and prosperity," he said.

During the trip, the Indian government positioned itself to take on a leading role in enhancing global stability by finalizing a USD 4.1 billion sale for ten C-17 Globemaster III heavy lift transport aircraft.

"Once all the aircraft have been delivered, ladies and gentlemen, India will have the second largest C-17 fleet in the world behind the United States –a highly visible manifestation of the US -India defense partnership," he said.

"The purchase of six C-130J transport aircraft in 2008 will provide the Indian Air Force a strategic airlift and humanitarian response capability that is unique to the region and emblematic of India’s ambitions to play an increasingly global role," Blake said. Noting that the President and the Prime Minister agreed that in this increasingly inter-dependent world, the stability of, and our access to, the air, sea, space, and cyberspace domains is vital for the security and economic prosperity of all nations, Blake said the two leaders therefore agreed to launch a dialogue to explore ways the two countries can work together, as well as with other countries, to develop a shared vision for these critical domains to promote peace, security and development.

As leaders of the two largest democracies in the world, the President and Prime Minister launched a US-India Open Government Dialogue on how India and the US can democratize access to information, support global initiatives in this area, and share their own experience.