WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday welcomed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House, with both sides vowing to promote bilateral relations.

Addressing the welcoming ceremony in the White House East Room, Obama spoke highly of India's efforts to promote democracy in the country, saying the United States and India share the bold experiment of becoming democracies after rule by a colonial power.

Obama said both in modern times know the pain of international terrorism.

Attaching great importance to Singh's "first official state visit" to the United States in his presidency, Obama said the visit "reflects the abiding bonds of respect and friendship between our people."

"Above all, your visit at this pivotal moment in history speaks to the opportunity before us to build the relationship between our nations, born in the last century, into one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century," he said.

Obama also called for more cooperation with India "to build a future of security and prosperity for all nations."

"As we work to build that future, India is indispensable," Obama noted.

In response, Singh said "India and America are separated by distance, but bound together by the values of democracy, humanism, rule of law, and respect of fundamental human freedoms."

India seeks to "broaden and deepen strategic partnership with the United States to meet the challenges of a fast-changing world in this 21st century," he said.

"We should cooperate in addressing global challenges of combating terrorism, making our environment cleaner, and moving towards a world free of nuclear weapons."

Following the welcoming ceremony, Obama and Singh began talks which are expected to focus on anti-terrorism, economic crisis, the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan and climate change, in addition to bilateral relations.

Obama is due to hold a state dinner in honor of visiting Singh later in the day. Several of Hollywood's heavy hitters who supported Obama's campaign were invited to the White House state dinner.

The United States and India reached an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation in March 2006, under which India would get access to US civil nuclear technology, and open its nuclear facilities for inspection.