President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said the people of India and the United States have always viewed each other as friends; and expressed happiness that the two nations are deepening strategic, security and defence cooperation.

Speaking at the Banquet, he hosted for U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, Mr. Mukherjee said “our core values determine how we live and how we are governed as a nation, and these values also define aspirations for future and vision of the world we want to bequeath to our children.” “The relationship between India and the United States is a special one. It is special because it is a relationship forged in the hearts and minds of our two people, in the commercial ties between our two businesses, in the exchanges between our two scientists and engineers and in the enduring linkages between hundreds of our institutions.”