BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- President Obama is in New Delhi... wrapping up his India visit with a 4-billion-dollar pledge in investment and loans. Earlier, he attended the country's 66th annual Republic Day parade -- the first US President to do so.
Even a rainy day couldn't dampen the spirit in New Delhi, as India put on a massive show of strength at its 66th Republic Day parade.
US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama-guests of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-- watched the showcase of Indian defense expertise and diversity.
It was the first time that a US president has been the parade's guest of honor. It sent a strong message to the world of the deepening strategic ties between the two largest democracies in the world.
Among the equipment India put on display Monday was its P-81 maritime surveillance aircraft, recently acquired from the U.S., along with Russian-made MiG-29K fighters.
Indeed most of the hardware on display was Russian made. But Obama hopes to change that. During talks earlier in the day, India and the US agreed to extend their defense framework agreement. This includes plans to jointly develop and produce new defense technologies.
Security was tight ahead of the parade. Authorities described it as a 7-layer shield around New Delhi, as officials wanted to take no risk of any threats to the country's special guest on this special day.
Later in the evening, President Obama attended the India-US CEO summit, where he promised four billion dollars to India in loans and government-backed investments.
"Both Indian and American workers are and can benefit even more in the future from close ties between our two countries so we're moving in the right direction," Obama said.
Currently, India-U.S. trade amounts to about 100 billion dollars with U.S. officials saying 500 billion dollars is the new target by 2020. Clearly, there is much work to be done before that figure could become a reality.
(Source: CNTV.com)
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