“With you,” Putin told Obama, “we link all our hopes for the furtherance of relations between our two countries.”

Obama lavished praise on Putin, while stumbling for the second time in as many days over his titles. “I’m aware of not only the extraordinary work that you’ve done on behalf of the Russian people in your previous role as prime minister— as president, but in your current role as prime minister.”

'Bangalore, India can help businesses everywhere'

Barack Obama mentioned Bangalore and India in a speech to students at New Economic School on Tuesday. Speaking on America's interest in “global prosperity”, he said: “A young woman with an Internet connection in Bangalore, India, can compete with anybody anywhere in the world. An entrepreneur with a startup company in Beijing can take his business global... That’s good for all of us, because when prosperity is created in India, that’s a new market for our goods... when new connections are forged... all of us are enriched.”

Obama made a second mention of India in the context of “nuclear challenge in the 21st century”. He said: “The notion that prestige comes from holding these weapons... is an illusion. In the short period since the end of the Cold War, we’ve already seen India, Pakistan and North Korea conduct nuclear tests. Without a fundamental change, do any of us truly believe that the next two decades will not bring about the further spread of these nuclear weapons?”