WASHINGTON, Jan 26: As US President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised America's relationship with India as one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century, a senior State Department official announced ending export restrictions on Indian defence and space industries.

The United States had imposed these restrictions after 1998, when India tested its nuclear devices triggering similar tests by Pakistan.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robert Blake said the Obama administration had removed several major Indian firms from a blacklist that prohibited trade with them. The groups include the Indian Space Research Organisation, which leads India's space programme, and the weapon-designing Defence Research and Development Organisation.

Restrictions imposed after the 1998 nuclear tests barred US exports to India of material and technology that could have military use.

“These actions will open important new opportunities for our companies and governments on cooperating in the defence and space areas,” Mr Blake said. Mr Blake, speaking on Tuesday at Syracuse University in New York, said the United States would also support India's full membership in organisations that control exports including the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The US official said that besides building strong economic ties, the United States would also support a global role for India.

Such measures “reflect our confidence that it is a country with which we will be working ever more closely to advance global security and prosperity”, he said.

Meanwhile, in a message to the Indian nation on their Republic Day, President Obama emphasised the importance of building a greater relationship with India.

“The US and India are not only the world's two largest democracies, we are two pluralistic societies that believe in the potential and dignity of every human being.” Mr Obama said.

“And these are the beliefs that have led Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh and I to make the US-India relationship one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century.”