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The leaders talked on first name terms, recorded a radio program together and spent hours speaking at different events, but despite the bonhomie, Obama and Modi reminded business leaders, including the head of PepsiCo, that trade ties were still fragile.

India accounts for only 2 percent of U.S. imports and one percent of its exports, Obama said. While annual bilateral trade had reached $100 billion, that is less than a fifth of U.S. trade with China.

"We are moving in the right direction ... That said, we also know that the U.S.-India relationship is defined by so much untapped potential," Obama told the Indian and U.S. business leaders. "Everyone here will agree, we've got to do better."

Read MoreBig change in India on its way: Finance Minister

Modi said U.S. investment in India had doubled in the past four months and vowed to do more to slash the country's notorious red tape and make it one of the world's easiest places for business.

Obama said that U.S. Export-Import Bank would finance $1 billion in exports of 'Made-in-America' products. The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation will lend $1 billion to small- and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas of India.

Regarding renewable energy, a key focus for Modi, $2 billion will be committed by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency for renewable energy, Obama said.

Most significant was an agreement on issues that, despite a groundbreaking 2006 pact, had stopped U.S. companies from setting up nuclear reactors in India and had become one of the major irritants in bilateral relations.

"Mobama breaks N-deadlock," ran the front-page headline of the Mail Today newspaper, which carried a photograph of Modi and Obama hugging each other warmly.

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Obama pledges $4 billion to India

President Obama vowed Monday to accelerate U.S. trade and investment in India, saying both nations need to do more to capitalize on the untapped potential in a relationship that could define economic and environmental health in both countries.

In our globalized world, the fortunes of the United States and the fortunes of India are inextricably linked. We can grow and we can prosper together, Obama told a group of business leaders on Monday during his second day of a trip to New Delhi. Were moving in the right direction. The U.S.-India economic relationship is also defined by so much untapped potential. I think everybody here will agree weve got to do better.

Obama announced a series of new trade initiatives aimed at boosting defense and technology exports and touted progress on a stalled nuclear power deal and renewable energy investment.

His remarks during his three-day stop in India also included a polite push for Indian officials and the executives gathered at the Taj Palace hotel to ensure the rush to develop is both environmentally sound and inclusive.

Growth cannot just be measured by the aggregate. It cant just be measured by GDP, it cant just be measured by the bottom line on a balance sheet, Obama said. Growth in the end has to make peoples lives better in real tangible and lasting ways.

Before the public meeting, Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met privately with nearly 30 chief executives from U.S. and Indian companies. The CEOs in attendance included Robert Iger of Walt Disney Co., PepsiCos Indra Nooyi, Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, Honeywells Dave Cote, Ahmad Chatila of SunEdison and Daniel Roderick of Westinghouse.

Westinghouse is among those that may benefit from what Obama dubbed a breakthrough understanding in stalled negotiations over U.S. companies push to build nuclear power plants in India. On Sunday, the two sides said they had resolved two key sticking points, accounting for the nuclear material produced by U.S. companies and liability in case of an accident.

U.S. officials cast the agreement as a step toward moving India off fossil fuels a key aim in the Obama administrations climate change policy and expanding access to electricity to the 300 million Indians without it.

One summit attendee called the discussion promising.

"The dialogue was comforting, reassuring and genuine," said Nishith Desai, head of an advisory law firm in Mumbai that represents U.S. and Indian clients. "It appeared both the U.S. and India need each other and want to do business."

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Obama seeks to mine 'untapped potential' in U.S.-India relationship

President Barack Obama endorsed Mayor Rahm Emanuel for re-election in a radio ad that began airing Monday in Chicago, laughing off Emanuel's "hardheaded" demeanor as proof of his passion and speaking in favor of the mayor's school policies that have become key points of controversy in the election campaign.

"If you want a mayor who does what's right, not just what's popular, who fights night and day for the city we love, then I hope you'll join me. Vote for Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday, February 24th," Obama says in the 60-second spot.

The ad comes less than a month before the election, in which Emanuel is seeking to hold on to the strong support from African-American voters who helped him win the mayor's office in 2011 without having to go to a runoff election. At that time, Emanuel had just stepped down as chief of staff for Obama, who remains very popular in his hometown.

In the four years since, Tribune polls show many African-American voters in Chicago have grown disenchanted with the mayor, in part because of high crime and Emanuel's 2013 decision to close dozens of public schools, several over the protests of residents in neighborhoods with large black populations. Obama gives a nod in the ad to Emanuel's reputation for rubbing people the wrong way as he pursues his agenda but defends the mayor's record on education.

"Before Rahm Emanuel was mayor of Chicago, he was a key part of my team at the White House," Obama says. "And let's be honest, at times the guy can be a little hardheaded. But there's a reason Rahm fights as hard as he does. He loves our city, and he believes every child in every neighborhood should have a fair shot at success.

"Chicago had the shortest school day of any American city until Rahm insisted that our kids get the same educational opportunity as other kids," Obama says. He goes on to tout Emanuel's moves to make full-day kindergarten standard and to gradually raise the minimum wage in Chicago to $13 an hour by 2019.

Emanuel's challengers on Monday said an Obama endorsement won't carry him to victory. "I don't think it helps at all," Ald. Bob Fioretti said while talking to reporters after a speech at the City Club of Chicago. "Come to our communities. Come to the city. Come to Roseland. Come to Englewood. They're asking 'Where are the jobs?'"

And Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia said the endorsement is to be expected based on Emanuel's service in the Obama White House. "Loyalty is valued by people in Chicago," Garcia said while accepting the endorsement of the Independent Voters of Illinois Independent Precinct Organization. "You stick with your friends. You stand by them through thick and thin. What does it mean? It doesn't mean a whole lot."

Businessman Willie Wilson released a statement saying Emanuel has used his relationships with former President Bill Clinton and Obama to help get him elected, but the tactic won't work this time. "Rahm is used to being sent so I'm going to send him home. I just hope the good citizens of Chicago send a hard worker like me to City Hall," Wilson said.

Perennial candidate William "Dock" Walls called his own City Hall news conference to denounce the ad, saying Obama "should have stayed out of this. ... He's too far removed from Chicago, and his busy schedule probably prevents him from paying attention to the little things that affect quality of life."

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Obama, Mayor Emanuel's former boss, endorses him in radio ad

India: #39;No military confrontation with Russia - just isolation #39; - Obama
US President Barack Obama stressed the importance of continuing to support Ukraine #39;s military, speaking from New Delhi during his visit to India, Sunday. Obama stated that the US would continue...

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India: 'No military confrontation with Russia - just isolation' - Obama - Video

Modi sings #39;America se aaya mera dost #39;, welcomes Obama
Departing from protocol, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama at the VVIP terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

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Modi sings 'America se aaya mera dost', welcomes Obama - Video