US President Barack Obama and I: PM Narendra Modi stresses personal chemistry

NEW DELHI: Chemistry between US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was very much evident today with the Indian leader calling him by his first name more than once during their joint media interaction.

Obama displaying similar comradrie in turn addressed the Indian leader as 'Modi' and referred to their personal relationship which they had been able to build "in a very brief amount of time".

He told the media curious about the one-on-one talks they had in lawns of Hyderabad House, that the two leaders among other things compared how much sleep each of them gets.

"It turns out Modi is getting much less sleep than me. Of course, that is because he is still new. After he has been doing it for about six years, may be he will be able to get an extra hour," the US leader joked, triggering smiles all around.

Modi said he believed that relations between countries depend less on "full stops and commas on papers" and more on relations between leaders. "How much they know each other, how is their chemistry, these are very important."

"Barack and me have forged a friendship. There is openess with which we talk, we can talk comfortably over phone, joke with each other... This chemistry has not only brought me and Barack close or Washington and Delhi nearer but also the people of two countries. This personal chemistry matters a lot," he said.

Before making his opening statement, Obama greeted people in Hindi, "Mera pyar bhara namaskar (my greetings with love)". He also referred to their one-on-one talks over tea in Hyderabad House lawns as "chai pe charcha", remarking that there should be more of it in Washington.