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Obama gets warm welcomefrom Narendra Modi in IndiaPresident arrives in New Delhi on three-day visitaiming for progress on climate change, defenceand economic issues

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Associated Press in New DelhiThe Guardian, Sunday 25 January 2015 10.45 GMT

President Obama is greeted by prime minister Narendra Modi upon his

arrival in India on Sunday. Photograph: Reuters

US president Barack Obama has been welcomed like

royalty in India as he started a three-day visit aimed at

turning his burgeoning rapport with the prime minister,

Narendra Modi, into progress on climate change,

defence and economic issues.

Obama’s arrival in the bustling capital of New Delhi on

Sunday morning marked the first time an American

leader has visited India twice during his presidency.

Obama is also the first to be invited to attend India’s

Republic Day festivities, which begin on Monday and

mark the anniversary of the enactment of the country’s

democratic constitution.

Modi, wearing a gold kurta, was at the airport to greet

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Obama at the foot of Air Force One with a huge

embrace. Obama returned the gesture, patting the

prime minister on the back several times.

Obama’s limousine was later escorted through a metal

gate and into the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan,

India’s presidential palace, by a cavalry regiment of the

Indian army. He was welcomed with a booming 21-gun

salute and inspected an honour guard.

“It’s a great honour,” Obama said when reporters

asked for his thoughts on attending Republic Day. “We

are so grateful for the extraordinary hospitality.”

The mere fact that the talks were happening was being

viewed as a sign of progress given the recent tensions

that have marred relations between the US and India.

High on Obama’s agenda with Modi is progress on

getting the heavily polluted country to agree to curb

carbon emissions. White House officials hope the

surprise climate agreement the US struck with China in

November might spur India to take similar steps.

Obama is also expected to push Modi to make

changes to liability legislation in India that has

prevented US companies from capitalising on a

landmark civil nuclear agreement between the two

countries in 2008.

Ahead of the big day of celebration, Obama walked in

his socks into a walled courtyard to lay a large white

wreath at the site where Mahatma Gandhi was

cremated. He then shovelled earth and poured a

pitcher of water around a young tree planted in his

honour at the memorial.

But in a move likely to take some of the symbolic shine

off of Obama’s trip, the White House announced

shortly before he departed from Washington that the

president had cancelled plans to visit the Taj Mahal in

Agra. The president and first lady had planned to tour

the famed white marble monument of love on

Tuesday, but instead will go to Saudi Arabia to pay

respects to the royal family following the death of King

Abdullah.

India’s relationship with the US plummeted in 2013

when the Indian deputy consul general, Devyani

Khobragade, was arrested and strip-searched in New

York over allegations that she lied on visa forms to

bring her maid to the US while paying her a pittance.

Her treatment caused outrage in New Delhi and India

retaliated against US diplomats.

Ties between the US and India have been steadily

improving since Modi took office last May. He and

Obama met for the first time late last year in

Washington, and officials from both countries say they

quickly developed an easy chemistry.

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That came as something of a surprise to regional

analysts given Modi’s difficult history with the US. He

was denied a visa to the US in 2005, three years after

religious riots killed more than 1,000 Muslims in the

Indian state where he was the top elected official.

“I think Modi surprised everyone by, with very little

hesitation, embracing the United States,” said Milan

Vaishnav, a South Asia expert at the Carnegie

Endowment for International Peace. “To give credit

where credit is due, the Obama administration stepped

in very quickly after his election to signal that he was

willing to do business.”

Obama also had a good rapport with the former Indian

prime minister, Manmohan Singh. However, US

officials expressed some frustration that their personal

warmth never translated into policy breakthroughs.

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