Barack and I: Modi stresses personal chemistry

New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) Talking glowingly about his "good friendship" with US President Barack Obama and how it had brought the people of India and US closer, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed him by his first name "Barack" more than once while Obama, in response, was less informal and addressed him as "Modi" or "prime minister".

"Barack and I have forged a friendship. There is openness when we talk on the phone and we also crack jokes," Modi said.

"This chemistry has brought Barack closer to me but also brought the people of India and America closer" he added.

"I’m fairly new in this area but relations between countries depends less on full stops, commas, and more on the personal chemistry between the leaders. I think this chemistry is very important and will only grow," he said further.

Obama too agreed with Modi and said their friendship reflected the "warmth" between the two countries.

"In addition to the personal friendship that we have built in a brief amount of time we are reflecting the warmth between the people of India and US," Obama said.

"We compared hours of sleep. It turns out that Modi is even getting less sleep than me. That’s because he is still new," Obama said much to the amusement of the media persons.