At the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi today, former US President Barack Obama was asked by senior journalist Karan Thapar about his much-touted friendship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Obama stopped for a while before answering that question. "I like him (Modi)... I think he has a vision for the country. He is making efforts to modernise some elements of bureaucracy. But I was also great friends with Dr (Manmohan) Singh," Obama said.

The 44th President of the United States then quickly added how he admired Manmohan Singh, with whom he shared a friendly relationship during his eight-year tenure, which coincided with Singh being the Prime Minister in India.

"(Manmohan) Singh was the primary partner while we were working during the financial meltdown (of 2008). When you look at the steps Singh took to modernising the economy, it was the foundation for modernising Indian economy," he said.

This was not the first time Obama had praised Manmohan. At the 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto, overshadowed by a serious housing crisis in the US, Obama had said, "I can tell you here at G20, when the prime minister (of India) speaks, people listen."

That was a year after Obama had called Singh "a wise and wonderful man" on the sidelines of another G20 summit in London.

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