Obama begins India trip amid hopes of stronger ties

KV Prasad

Jan 25 2015 

US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama board Air Force One at Maryland Air Force station for their trip to India. 

A new page in India-US relations will be added on Sunday as President Barack Obama arrives in the Capital on a three-day sojourn to take forward the strategic partnership with Delhi. Obama will be the first US President to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade.

Air Force One carrying President Obama, First Lady Michelle and his delegation will touch down at Palam Air Force Station at 10 am, triggering a spate of events till January 27.

Hours before he emplaned for India, the White House announced plans to cut short the visit by slicing off a trip to Agra on Tuesday. Instead, the President will fly to Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) to pay respects to new King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and the family of the late King Abdullah. The White House said President Obama “regrets” for not being able to visit the Taj Mahal.

Soon after a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Obama will pay his respects to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and also plant a sapling before moving to Hyderabad House for bilateral talks.

While New Delhi described the upcoming visit as one of the most important diplomatic engagements in recent times, Washington said India has been a top foreign policy priority for the Obama Administration. The US believes that its Asia Pacific policy benefits from closer ties with India.

The return visit of Obama, four months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met him in Washington, meant that diplomats and bureaucracy had to frontload meetings at a faster clip in order work on the “deliverables.” Over the last few days officials on either side have engaged closely with each other to work on the possibility of some agreements, including one in the area of defence and civil nuclear energy. Both sides are working to narrow down differences, including and find a way to address US concern over the strict nuclear liability law, while expanding defence cooperation in the form of offering co-production in India.

The Indian liability law holds the suppliers directly liable in case of a nuclear accident while countries like France and the US have asked India to follow global norms under which the primary liability is with the operator.

Since all the nuclear power plants in the country are run by the government-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, following international norms will mean the government would have to pay the damages in case of an accident. Resolution of some outstanding issues will require political determination on either.

The US also wants to expand trade and economic engagement with India. President Obama and Prime Minister Modi are scheduled to attend a meeting with business leaders on Monday.

PM Modi is keen to make international companies invest here and take his ‘Make in India’ programme forward while the United States wants to work through a range of trade and investment-related issues while looking to open up greater exports in both directions.