US President Barack Obama is looking forward to speak to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as soon as he gets well, the White House has said.
Dr Singh, who underwent heart by-pass surgery last week, is currently admitted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in New Delhi. This is possibly what has kept the two leaders from talking to each other over phone, after Obama took the reins of power on January 20.
"I think the President would like to certainly express and extend his best wishes to the (Indian) prime minister, as he recovers from surgery, and looks forward to talking to him soon," the White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs told media persons when asked about Indo-US relationship between the two countries under the Obama Administration.
"I can give you guys a readout on that (whenever the two leaders talk)," Gibbs said.
"Without getting into a lot of specifics, I think the President believes that, obviously, the US and India are natural friends and natural allies," the White House spokesperson said in response to a question on Wednesday.
"The President looks forward over the course of this term to deepen the partnership that's been built between the two countries over these past many years, to strengthen those ties," Gibbs said.
The spokesperson said White House would have more to say about building relationship between the two countries in the future.