India ties special to US: Obama tells Manmohan

On Board Air India One, Nov 20: President Barack Obama said he attaches "special significance" to relations with India during his brief "very friendly and frank" talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Phnom Penh Tuesday.

During their "pull aside" meeting on the sidelines of the East Asia summit in the Cambodian capital, Manmohan Singh congratulated Obama on his re-election.

"India is a big part of our plans," Obama told Manmohan, said the sources.

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, who was present at the meeting along with National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, spoke to reporters on board the aircraft returning from Phnom Penh.

Manmohan and Obama also had "very friendly and frank exchange of views" over dinner Monday night and at another face to face meeting.

Menon met his counterpart Tom Donilon and discussed bilateral and regional issues.

Obama had flown in to Cambodia from Thailand and Myanmar. His visit to Myanmar and Cambodia are a first for any US president and marks the growing importance the US attaches to engaging with countries in the Asia Pacific.