NEW DELHI: India's relationship with the U.S. is back on the rails with U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking its ownership, former Indian ambassador Meera Shankar has said and noted that the outcomes during Obama's visit last month were marked by pragmatism as well as convergence.

Speaking at a panel discussion on `Indo-U.S. relations after the Republic Day parade' at the India International Centre here, Shankar said that the visit had helped reset the bilateral relationship. "Overall it was extremely positive. It was high on both symbolism and substance," Shankar noted. 

Obama's visit to India January 25-27 was marked by several firsts. He is the first U.S. president to visit India twice while in office, the first to be chief guest at Republic Day parade and the first to do a joint radio broadcast with the Indian prime minister.

Shankar, who has been India's ambassador to the U.S., said that the India-U.S. nuclear deal changed the international regime for India but the bilateral relationship hit a plateau subsequently as the two governments focused on their domestic issues.

"The relationship is now back on the rails. (These are) leaders who are taking ownership focused on broader strategic aspect," Shankar said at the discussion organised by the Indo-American Friendship Association.

Referring to the nuclear deal which was conceived in 2005 but could not be operationalised due to US concerns on India's liability clauses, she said that there was effort by both sides to move ahead pragmatically. She said the two sides sidestepped some contentious economic issues, focused on larger business picture, worked for concrete action in renewable energy and decided to move beyond buyer-seller relationship in defence.

Referring to the US-India joint vision for the Asia Pacific and India Ocean region which referred to South China Sea, she said that the two countries had stated their convergence publicly which was a departure from the past.

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Source: IANS