Obama presides over India's grand Republic Day parade
By JULIE PACE and MUNEEZA NAQVI, Associated Press
Jan 26, 2015 12:19 AM CST

NEW DELHI (AP) — President Barack Obama presided Monday over a grand display of Indian military hardware, marching bands, and elaborately dressed camels, becoming the first American leader to be honored as chief guest at India's annual Republic Day festivities.

The crowd erupted in cheers as Obama, along with first lady Michelle Obama, emerged from his armored limousine and took his place on the rain-soaked parade route in the capital of New Delhi. The parade was the centerpiece of Obama's three-day visit to India, which is aimed at strengthening a relationship between the world's largest democracies that has at times been fraught with tension and suspicion.

Obama's attendance at the Republic Day celebrations was unlike any other event he has participated in during his overseas travel as president. He was to spend more than two hours on an outdoor viewing platform, an unusual amount of time given Secret Service security concerns. Obama nodded in approval as Indian tanks and rocket launchers, some of them Russian-made, rolled down the parade route and helicopters ferrying Indian flags flew overhead.

Republic Day marks the anniversary of the India's democratic constitution taking force in 1950. Beyond the show of military power, the parade also includes ornate floats highlighting India's cultural diversity. Following the parade, the Obamas were to attend a reception with dignitaries at Rashtrapati Bhawan, the sprawling presidential palace.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's invitation for Obama to attend the parade came as a surprise to White House officials. After some internal deliberation, Obama ultimately decided to attend and has sought to use the visit to turn his burgeoning personal friendship with Modi into policy breakthroughs.

U.S. officials have welcomed Modi's efforts to forge deeper ties with Washington, despite his own difficult history with the U.S. Modi was denied a visa to visit the U.S. in 2005, three years after religious riots killed more than 1,000 Muslims in the Indian state where he was the top elected official.

Officials in both countries say Obama and Modi developed an easy chemistry when they first met in Washington last fall. The two leaders spent several hours together Sunday and heralded their close relationship.

Obama said Modi's "strong personal commitment to the U.S.-India relationship gives us an opportunity to further energize these efforts." And the Indian leader declared that "the chemistry that has brought Barack and me closer has also brought Washington and Delhi closer."

Obama and Modi heralded progress on defense and climate change, as well as breakthroughs on an impasse over implementing a landmark civil nuclear deal they agreed to in 2008.

While details on the nuclear breakthrough were scarce, U.S. officials said the governments had overcome their differences on two fronts: U.S. insistence on tracking fissile material it supplied to India and American business concerns with India's liability rules that could impact their legal responsibilities in the event of a nuclear power plant accident.

Officials said it would be up to U.S. companies to determine whether the new agreements with India adequately addressed their concerns.

Several American business leaders were joining Obama in New Delhi, including the chief executives of Disney, PepsiCo and Marriott. They were to join Indian executives at a business leaders' summit later Monday.

Obama was to close his visit to India Tuesday with a speech to young people. He had planned to visit the Taj Mahal, India's famed white marble monument of love, but scrapped that stop to instead travel to Saudi Arabia to pay respects to the royal family following King Abdullah's death.

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Follow Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Naqvi at http://twitter.com/Mnaqvi10