Nevada (US), Oct 2 : Indo-Americans have applauded US President Barack Obama for stating: "The America of today has its roots in the India of Mahatma Gandhi and the non-violent social action movement for Indian independence which he led."

Acclaimed Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA), commended Obama for expressing "appreciation for the life and lessons of Mahatma Gandhi on the anniversary of his birth", and stressed that world should look deeper into Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence, his commitment to world peace, and his work for the upliftment of the downtrodden.

Rajan Zed, who is chairperson of Indo-American Leadership Confederation, further said that Mahatma Gandhi was one of the few men in history to fight simultaneously on moral, religious, political, social, economic, and cultural fronts.

His life and thought had an enormous impact on the world, and he continued to be widely revered as one of the greatest moral, political, and peace leaders of the twentieth century.

Obama also said in this statement that Gandhi's message of non-violence continued to inspire people and political movements across the globe."Americans owe an enormous measure of gratitude to the Mahatma"." we must renew our commitment to live his ideals".

On September eight, during discussion with ninth graders in Wakefield High School in Arlington (Virginia, USA), when a student named Lilly asked President Obama that "if you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be", his reply was: "I think that it might be Gandhi, who is a real hero of mine. he''s somebody who I find a lot of inspiration in. it would probably be a really small meal because he didn''t eat a lot."

Zed also thanked search engine Google for replacing "G" in Google in their homepage with Gandhi's face today.

Although peace icon Gandhi (1869-1948) never set foot on America, yet he was on Time magazine covers in 1930, 1931, and 1947; Time Person of the Year in 1930; and was runner-up for Time Person of the Century.

Today is the 140th anniversary of his birth. (ANI)