Recognising massive investment made by top Indian companies like Reliance, Mahindra and Mahindra, a

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senior Obama Administration official has said that the business relationship between India and the US are no longer a one way street.

"No longer are US-India business ties a one way street," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said at the 27th Annual Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Lecture at the San Diego State University in California.

"In fact, a new poll conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, however, shows that Americans have an increasingly favourable view of India, and Americans increasingly favour a free trade agreement with India, a figure that has risen nine per cent points in just 4 years," Blake said.

He said he predicts that this positive sentiment would only continue to rise, as both the Americans and the Indians see the huge and growing synergies between the two countries.

"Mukesh Ambani, owner of the behemoth Indian company Reliance Industries, expects to create approximately thousands of US jobs and infuse enormous amounts of capital to explore for and develop shale gas here in the United States," he said.

"Mahindra and Mahindra group's wholly-owned subsidiary Mahindra USA sells lower horsepower tractors to farmers across the country. The tractors are assembled at three facilities in Texas, Tennessee, and here in California. They are also planning future investments in the United States," he said.

Thinking about the emergence of developing powers – be they India, China, Brazil or even Turkey – tends to focus on how the growth of these nations could adversely affect economic conditions here in the United States, he said.

"But a recent study by India's Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry showed that Indian firms are investing almost as much here in the US as their American counterparts are in India," Blake said.

In mid-June, Qualcomm won a significant share of India's next generation wireless service, by paying over a billion dollars to provide coverage in large swaths of both New Delhi and Mumbai. It will partner with two Indian-based telecommunication firms to provide exceptional mobile broadband coverage for millions of Indians, he noted.

"It speaks to the interconnectedness of our two nations that an US firm – based right here in San Diego – will be an integral part of creating faster wireless networks in India, a key component of commerce, health care, innovation, and the further development of our knowledge-based economy," Blake said.