New Delhi: US President Barack Obama’s attendance as Chief Guest to India’s Republic Day on Monday is more than just an event. It symbolises the growth of India and its political power in the region and beyond.
Never has a US President, assumed by many as the most powerful political leader in the world, been to India’s Republic Day celebration in the past 65 years since it adopted its constitution.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken his diplomacy to heights that have not been taken to before. With an invitation over twitter to Obama — the White House claimed to have been taken aback by the gesture — the two have shown their promise to work in a digitised world.
The new era of friendship, proclaimed by Obama, has deepened what Modi’s action after him taking the office did for India in the region.
While a several years pending nuclear deal made major breakthrough in the talks between the two leaders at Hyderabad House on Sunday, they also renewed a 10-year defence pact, agreed to joint military hardware production and resolved to reduce the threat of greenhouse gas emissions to the world’s climate.
The proximity between the two leaders was palpable from the start, as Modi broke protocol to greet Obama and his wife Michelle at the airport, with a warm handshake and hug. During their press meet Modi surprised everyone with his reference to the president as “Barack†while Obama himself called Modi “Namo†and later at a state address referred to him as “my partner and friend.â€
During their statement, the two leaders also brought forward the need for a joint coalition against terrorism, and not allowing home-grown terrorism to thrive in a nation, a clear message to Pakistan that it was not forgotten during the discussions. Â
Obama’s visit to India is also being seen as America’s want to grow its clout in Asia so as to counterweight China, which for India too is of importance, seeing the on-going border dispute between India and China.
New Delhi also dislikes China’s rising aid-driven influence among its South Asian neighbours and Beijing’s greater naval presence in the Indian Ocean.
Beijing reacted contemptuously to the visit, calling it nothing more than a symbolic exercise. But it is more than obvious that Modi’s move to invite Obama has resulted in relations which promise to be a new dawn in Indo-US collaboration and India’s presence in the region.