Modi may reciprocate Obama’s rare gesture

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Jan 20, 2015, DHNS: Four months after US President Barack Obama accompanied him on a tour to the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in Washington DC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may reciprocate the rare gesture when the US President arrives in New Delhi to attend the Republic Day ceremony as chief guest.

Sources told Deccan Herald that Modi may accompany Obama to Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial at Rajghat in Delhi.

The Prime Minister’s Office is understood to be also exploring the option of Modi joining Obama during the US President’s Taj Mahal visit on January 27—the last day of his India tour.

The Gandhi Smriti at Tees January Marg in New Delhi was also among the options being considered for a Modi-Obama joint appearance.

Speculation is also rife about the prime minister brushing aside protocol to receive the US President at the airport late on Saturday night.

Obama was received by Modi’s predecessor Manmohan Singh in November 2010 when he had arrived in New Delhi for his first visit to India as US President.Obama had made a rare gesture to Modi by accompanying him to the memorial of US civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr, who had drawn inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi.


The duo visited the memorial on September 30 during Modi’s maiden visit to the US as prime minister of India.

The pictures of Obama and Modi near the 9.1-metre-high white granite statue of King—famously titled “Out of a Mountain of Despair, a Stone of Hope”—were front-paged by many newspapers both in India and the US.

Obama will arrive in New Delhi late on Saturday, and is likely to start his visit early next morning with a tour to Rajghat, where he will pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi.
Sources said Modi might join him during the visit.

Modi on September 17, 2014, accompanied Chinese President Xi Jinping on a tour to Gandhi Ashram at Sabarmati in Ahmedabad. He had also accompanied Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan on a stroll along the bank of the Sabarmati river after receiving them at the main city of his home state.

To address CEOs

Modi and Obama are also likely to jointly address the Chief Executive Officers of top US and Indian companies during the US President’s visit.Obama will also outline his vision for bilateral ties in a speech titled “India and America: The Future We Can Build Together” at the Siri Fort Auditorium of New Delhi on January 27.

Obama had addressed both Houses of Parliament of India during his previous visit.