India will succeed as long as it's not splintered along religious lines: Obama

Speaking at the Siri Fort auditorium, Obama said: "Nowhere is it more important to uphold religious freedom than in India...India will succeed as long as it's not splintered along religious lines."

Referring to the Article 25 of the Indian Constitution which deals with  Right to Freedom of religion, Obama said: "Your Article 25 (of the Constitution) says that all people are 'equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion."

He said upholding the fundamental freedom is the responsibility of the government and every person in a nation.

He said: "Across our two great countries, we have Hindus and Muslims, Christians and Sikhs, Jews and Buddhists and Jains and so many faiths. We remember the wisdom of Gandhi ji who said 'for me, people of different religions are like beautiful flowers from the same garden'. They are branches of the same majestic tree."

  "No society is immune from the darkest impulses of man, and too often religion has been used to tap into those darker impulses as opposed to the light of god," Obama said.,

Referring to Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, sporting icons Milkha Singh, MC Mary Com and Nobel peace prize winner Kailash Satyarthi, he said: "It is when all Indians, whatever your faith, go to the movies and applaud Shah Rukh Khan or celebrate athletes like Milkha Singh or Mary Kom and every Indian can take pride in the courage of a humanitarian who liberates boys and forced labour and exploitation like Kailash Satyarthi. This is what unifies us."

Obama made the remarks at a time when religious conversions by right wing Hindu outfits were triggering controversies across India.

Obama also highlighted the issue of women empowerment and said: "We know from experience that nations are more successful when their women are successful."

Ending their three-day visit to India, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama  boarded their special Airforce One flight at around 1-55 pm.

The flight took off at around 2 pm from Palam Airport. Obamas are headed for Saudi Arabia to  offer  condolences for the death of King Abdullah.

Obama became the first US president to take part in the Republic Day parade of India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During the visit the two leaders also had a breakthrough in the stalled civil nuclear deal.