Had a fruitful chat with Barack Obama, says Rahul Gandhi

Gandhi took to Twitter to say that the two "had a fruitful chat", though not revealing much about their topic of discussion.

"Had a fruitful chat with President @BarackObama Great to meet him again.," Gandhi tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the former US President on Friday and called the experience as 'pleasurable'.

The two leaders had earlier met several times during Obama's tenure as the President. Obama last visited India in 2015.

Stressing on tolerance and unity, former US President Barack Obama on Friday said India should nurture its large Muslim population that thinks of itself as Indian.

Speaking at the 15th edition of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, Obama also warned against “the distinction between ‘us’ and ‘them’ is dangerous and can wreak havoc on us all”.

“For a country like India where there is a Muslim population that is successful, integrated and considers itself as Indian, which is not the case in some other countries, this should be nourished and cultivated,” he said.

Obama drew focus on the issue of religious polarisation in communities across India and said : “Politicians tend to be a reflection of the forces in the society… If communities across India are saying they won’t fall prey to division, then it will strengthen the hand of politicians who feel that way.”

Talking about multiculturalism, the former Prsesident said this is a common bond between the US and India. 

“I think his (Modi’s) impulses are to recognise the Indian unity. I think he firmly believes unity is necessary for the progress of the nation.”

Image: twitter.com/OfficeOfRG