Unlikely buddies Obama and Modi aim high on India trip

In a fresh bid to make India an enduring strategic partner, U.S. President Barack Obama landed in New Delhi on Sunday for a highly symbolic visit and to nurture friendship with a prime minister who a year ago was persona non grata in Washington. Obama will be the first U.S. president to attend India’s Republic Day parade, a show of military might long associated with the anti-Americanism of the Cold War, and will host a radio show with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His presence at Monday’s procession at Modi’s personal invitation is the latest revival in a roller-coaster relationship between the two largest democracies that just a year ago was in tatters.

I’d like to think the stars are aligned to finally realise the vision [of] India and America as true global partners

Obama said in an interview with India Today, a weekly magazine, published on Friday

Modi greeted Obama and his wife, Michelle, on the tarmac of the airport in New Delhi as they came down the steps from Air Force One. The two leaders hugged each other warmly. The two sides have worked to reach agreements on climate change, taxation and defence cooperation in time for the visit. Talks on a hoped-for deal on civil nuclear trade went down to the wire with no clear solution at the weekend. The United States views India as a vast market and potential counterweight to China’s assertiveness in Asia, but frequently grows frustrated with the slow pace of economic reforms and unwillingness to side with Washington in international affairs. Meanwhile, Obama will cut short his three-day trip to India to travel to Saudi Arabia to pay respects following the death of King Abdullah. The schedule change means Obama will skip plans to visit the Taj Mahal, the white marble monument of love.

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