'He recognised India as a world power'

Captain Jainarain Nishad, Janata Dal-United: Muzzaffarpur, Bihar

The highlight of the speech was President Obama's words on including India as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. What he said will hold a lot of weight and is a very good sign to the world about India's bid as a permanent member.

He recognised India's role as a world power with a leading role in establishing peace in the region and the world. His mention of Pakistan, considering his political limitations vis a vis that country, was also significant. He said India and Pakistan have to resolve their differences between themselves.

The mention of the Right to Information Act and its benefits is also a good point he highlighted.

Maratrao Kowase, Congress: Gadchiroli-Chimur, Maharashtra

It was a pleasant evening at Parliament House and I liked the special session. To me the speech was a proof of the strong relations that India and America had formed over the past few years.

Secondly, the trade relations between the two countries never seemed better and this cooperation is only going to increase.

It is a matter of pride for us that the Father of our Nation and other great leaders that he mentioned have left for us such a moral foundation that has inspired people around the world. We should reiterate our commitment to our founding fathers.

Bhudeo Chaudhury, JD-U: Jamui, Bihar

What I specially liked about President Obama's speech was the way he spoke about Gandhiji and his message of peace.

I feel through his speech and his three days in India, Obama has extended a hand of friendship towards India and recognised India as a global power. This is significant.

His speech was good and his remarks on Pakistan that it should tackle its terror groups was an important point he made. He also said how Pakistan was facing a threat within its own country from such groups.

Another thing that I liked was his thoughts on how in a changing world the demand of politics was that countries cooperate with each other.

Shashi Tharoor, Congress: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on Twitter

Excellent Obama speech to Parliament, struck all the right notes. Support4 UNSecCo perm seat. "Terrorist safe havens in Pak unacceptable".

N Peethambra Kurup, Congress: Kollam, Kerala

I liked his speech. I liked it very much. The Americans have accepted India as a developed country. In 2010 we are equal partners. In the fifties, India was considered a poor country with no infrastructure, not enough food to feed its own people and nowhere in technological development.

In 50 years we have achieved this status and that makes it important. Imagine that in a few decades we have come from being a backward country to a developed nation.

President Obama declared that we have emerged as a world power and that makes me very happy.

R Thamaraiselvam, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham: Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu

I liked the fact that he spoke about Mahatma Gandhi and Ambedkar. He called Gandhi his inspiration. When the President of the United States calls the father of our nation his inspiration it makes me very proud.

I also appreciated the fact that he said that democracy was the reason for India's progress and prosperity. He also praised the freedom our media enjoys here.

The best thing about the speech was that he was supposed to speak for only 20 minutes but he spoke for twice that time.