After nine years of denying Narendra Modi a visa to visit their country, it seems the US administration is hellbent on keeping up its efforts at courting the 15 Prime Minister of India. In what appears to be a diplomatic coup, the United States president Barack Obama has agreed to be the chief guest at the coming Republic Day function on 26 January, of course at the request of PM Modi.
He would be the first US president to attend the grand ceremony which showcases both the military might and cultural diversity.
‘This Republic Day, we hope to have a friend over...invited President Obama to be the 1st US President to grace the occasion as Chief Guest,’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Friday.
Officials sources later confirmed that the US president has accepted the invitation. A statement was also issued by Obama’s press secretary on the US president’s travel to India. ‘At the invitation of Prime Minister Modi, the President will travel to India in January 2015 to participate in the Indian Republic Day celebration in New Delhi as the chief guest,’ the statement said.
‘This visit will mark the first time a US president will have the honor of attending Republic Day, which commemorates the adoption of India’s constitution. The President will meet with the Prime Minister and Indian officials to strengthen and expand the US-India strategic partnership,’ the statement added.
Modi had met with President Obama in September at the White House for talks on two consecutive days. Modi had travelled to Washington after addressing the United Nations in New York and starring in what was dubbed as ‘a rock star reception’ at the Madison Square Garden venue in New York. The two leaders had penned a joint editorial in the Washington Post, titled ‘Chalein Saath Saath’, and after their meeting, said they had covered key issues including economics, climate change and regional security besides agreeing to negotiate a 10-year extension of a military cooperation framework due to expire at year end.
Modi had met with President Obama at an East Asia summit in Myanmar and a deal was struck there to allow a WTO trade deal that India had stalled over concerns that its food subsidies to the poor could face legal challenges. The President had praised Modi as ‘a man of action.’
He would be the first US president to attend the grand ceremony which showcases both the military might and cultural diversity.
‘This Republic Day, we hope to have a friend over...invited President Obama to be the 1st US President to grace the occasion as Chief Guest,’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Friday.
Officials sources later confirmed that the US president has accepted the invitation. A statement was also issued by Obama’s press secretary on the US president’s travel to India. ‘At the invitation of Prime Minister Modi, the President will travel to India in January 2015 to participate in the Indian Republic Day celebration in New Delhi as the chief guest,’ the statement said.
‘This visit will mark the first time a US president will have the honor of attending Republic Day, which commemorates the adoption of India’s constitution. The President will meet with the Prime Minister and Indian officials to strengthen and expand the US-India strategic partnership,’ the statement added.
Modi had met with President Obama in September at the White House for talks on two consecutive days. Modi had travelled to Washington after addressing the United Nations in New York and starring in what was dubbed as ‘a rock star reception’ at the Madison Square Garden venue in New York. The two leaders had penned a joint editorial in the Washington Post, titled ‘Chalein Saath Saath’, and after their meeting, said they had covered key issues including economics, climate change and regional security besides agreeing to negotiate a 10-year extension of a military cooperation framework due to expire at year end.
Modi had met with President Obama at an East Asia summit in Myanmar and a deal was struck there to allow a WTO trade deal that India had stalled over concerns that its food subsidies to the poor could face legal challenges. The President had praised Modi as ‘a man of action.’