Obama seeks to leverage ties with India’s Modi during visit

U.S. President Barack Obama will seek to leverage his burgeoning bond with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi into progress on climate change, defense and economic ties as he opens a three-day visit to New Delhi. Relations between the U.S. and India have been strained in recent years, but Obama and Modi developed a good rapport during a visit in Washington last fall. Modi sought to return the favor by inviting Obama to travel to India as his guest for the annual Republic Day festivities, which mark the day in 1950 that the country’s constitution came into force. The visit also includes a fresh round of bilateral meetings with Modi, an economic summit with U.S. and Indian business leaders and a visit to India’s famed Taj Mahal.

It took us by some surprise. There’s a great affinity between the United States and India and our people, but there’s also a history that is complicated and that would have made it seem highly unlikely that a U.S. president would be sitting with India’s leaders at their Republic Day ceremony.

Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser

Obama will be the first U.S. president to visit India twice while in office — he also traveled there in 2010 for an economic summit. The president’s visit is expected to be heavy on symbolism and lighter on substantive advances, though climate change, economics and defense ties are all on the agenda. Still, U.S. and Indian officials appear to agree that even a symbolic show of solidarity between the leaders would be a sign of progress after recent difficulties. While military cooperation and U.S. defense sales have grown, Washington has been frustrated by India’s failure to open up to more foreign investment and to address complaints alleging intellectual property violations. India’s liability legislation has also prevented U.S. companies from capitalizing on a landmark civil nuclear agreement between the two countries in 2008. Meanwhile, the White House plans to push India on climate change, particularly after reaching a sweeping agreement with China on limiting carbon emissions.

Modi has used the invitation as a way of signaling that the United States really looms large in his calculations for where he want to take India.

Ashley Tellis, a senior associate at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Asia-Pacific