Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Friday attributed the successful visit of US President Barack Obama to India, during which he backed the country’s bid for permanent membership of the UN security council, to India’s growing international profile as the largest functioning democracy and a fast growing emerging economy.

“What I am is because what our India is”, Singh said when a reporter suggested that the US president’s unequivocal support for India was being seen as a personal success for him. Similarly, another reporter suggested that Singh, who many world leaders regard as an eminent economist and a wise statesman, has had a “victory” at the G20 summit as the Seoul Declaration had adopted Singh’s speech point by point.

Singh said: “Well I do not claim victory. These are ideas which are under discussion in various fora. The Sherpas have been discussing these ideas and it is a process of give and take. But I do claim some credit that in my speech, I brought the development issue into the very forefront of sustainable, manageable growth process, that you should not only look at mainly surpluses and deficits but you should also see that these imbalances become an opportunity to deal with a more fundamental imbalance which is the development gap between the rich and poor countries. And that point, after I made that in my opening speech, was caught up by several other speakers and they complimented that I focussed and brought development to the forefront of the international dialogue”.

On his personal chemistry with President Obama, Singh said: “Well I have answered that question several times before. I think President Bush, when the first time I met him, he introduced me to his wife and said, ‘Laura, do you know of any other country of 1.2 billion people committed to democracy, committed to respect for fundamental human freedom, committed to the rule of law and yet doing well in terms of the development agenda’. So it was India’s attractiveness, India is a unique country, that with all our diversity, with all the complexities of caste, of religion, that we remain a functioning democracy, that we can manage to grow at 8-9 per cent growth rate. So it is really a tribute to India that attracted George Bush and same thing I find in President Obama. His speech to our Parliament, his idea of India that he talked about in his speeches, is a reflection of the uniqueness of India as a functioning democracy, committed to the rule of law, committed to respect for fundamental human freedoms and yet managing to grow at a respectable rate. So this is a tribute to India and not a tribute to me. What I am is because what India has made me”.