India, US enjoy very personal relationship: White House

WASHINGTON: India and the United States enjoy a "very personal relationship", which is reflected in three consecutive American presidential visits to the Asian nation, the White House said today.

"India enjoys very personal relationship with the United States and has through the administrations of President (Bill) Clinton, President (George W) Bush and now President (Barack) Obama -- all taking important steps in visiting that country," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Gibbs was responding to questions on the State visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao which began today, which he asserted is different from Oabma's India visit last November.

"It (Hu's US visit) is a little different than our trip to India, in the sense that the economic relationship that we have with the Chinese is different on a scale with what we do with India, which is why some of the commercial diplomacy around the India trip was so significant," Gibbs told reporters at his daily news conference.

He was asked about the business meeting which Obama and Hu would be attending at the White House today. A lot of big corporate deals are expected to come from the summit.

A large Boeing aircraft order was one of those; has been widely talked about as a possibility.

Later in the evening, the White House said Obama will host a meeting with Hu and business leaders at the White House to discuss the economic relationship with China.

"Obama will highlight the importance of increasing exports to China, a key part of our National Export Initiative, and of increasing investment in the United States -- both critical to supporting millions of American jobs," the White House said.

Obama will be joined by business leaders from the United States and from Chinese firms that have made investments in the United States.