Mahatma Gandhi's message still relevant: Obama

US President Barack Obama believes that Mahatma Gandhi's message is still relevant for the world.

"Gandhi lived and worked for much of his life in India but his message had, and still has, relevance for the entire world," he told PTI.

Obama, a great admirer of the Mahatma, was responding to a question whether he believed Gandhiji's teachings still had relevance in today's world.

"In my own country, Gandhi's work had a profound influence on Dr Martin Luther King and the extraordinary movement for civil rights that he helped to lead," he said.

In that respect, the President said Gandhi's work was "an inspiration for positive change in my own country and his example is something that I continue to admire."

He recalled his speech while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize last year in which he had said "the non-violence practised by men like Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every circumstance, but the love that they preached -- their faith in human progress -- must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey."

Obama said his trip to India is not only "a chance to honour Gandhi's memory, but also to honour and learn more about the modern India that he helped create."