U.S. President Barack Obama became the first American chief guest at the parade. Not only did he have to endure two hours of a cold Delhi morning drizzlealbeit in a glass boxhe also may have noticed how much of India’s military hardware was of Russianand not Americanvintage.
But most Indians will focus on the fact that Obama is the first sitting American president to visit India twice. They will remember the many images of Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi shaking hands and exchanging a warm embrace on the airport tarmac and at their first joint press conference in the world’s glare.
–
Maybe that will help broaden India’s historically insular foreign policy thinking. Maybe it will make India a more prominent player in global issues, over time. And maybe, just maybe, India and the U.S. may move a little closer to forming the “defining partnership” that Obama first promised in 2010.
READ: Obama’s trip to my homeland: Proof of India’s rise again
