New Delhi: The Narendra Modi-Barack Obama bonhomie and off-the-cuff camaraderie is one of the highlights of the US president’s current trip to India.
On four occasions during the joint press interaction at Hyderabad House, the Indian premier referred to the US president as ‘Barack’, while the US president returned the compliment returned the compliment by addressing the Indian PM as ‘Modi’.
And that indeed is some kind of a victory of sorts for Modi, given the fact that until as late as last year, the US had denied Modi a visa in view of his alleged role in the Gujarat riots in 2002.
Earlier in the day, Modi was present at the Palam Air Force Base to receive Obama and his wife Michelle. Late in the afternoon, after the luncheon break, the two leaders went for a walk, in complete exclusivity, on the lawns of Hyderabad Bhavan — with no aides on either side and no member of the Secret Service accompanying them. The duo spent a good 20 minutes on a heart-to-heart, marking a complete breakaway from protocol.
At the joint press conference, Obama opened his address saying Mera pyar bhara namaskar (my regards to you all). But the biggest sign of the warm relations came later in the press interaction when Modi was asked about the exact nature and content of his one-on-one talks with Obama. The Indian premier replied: “What happens behind the screen should best be kept as such.”
Obama agreed, saying “heart-to-heart chats are better kept that way.”
The US president further said one topic that often comes up for discussion between them is about their lack of sleep. “And I have found out that Modi sleeps even less than me. Well, I told him you are still new in this role … let another six years or so pass and then we’ll know!”
The formal welcome form the US head-of-state was conducted with much pomp at the forecourt of the majestic Rashtrapati Bhavan — residence of the Indian president — where President Pranab Mukherjee formally welcomed him to India on his second official visit as president.
Obama, after receiving the formal guard of honour — which was conducted for the first time ever by a lady officer of the Indian Air Force, Wing Commander Pooja Thakur — said: “It’s a great honour to be the chief guest for the Republic Day. It is the grandest welcome ever. We are grateful for this extraordinary hospitality,” US president said, where he received a 21 gun salute as per India’s colonial traditions.
Obama, then drove to Rajghat along with Pijush Goyal, the minister-in-waiting to pay floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, father of the Indian nation, and then to ‘Hyderabad house’ for the bilateral talks.
“What Dr Martin Luther King Jr. said then remains true today — the spirit of Gandhi is very much alive in India today. And it remains a great gift to the world. May we always live in his spirit of love and peace — among all people and nations,” he wrote in the visitors’ book at the Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat, in New Delhi.
— with inputs from Archisman Dinda
