Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited US President Barack Obama to be the chief guest at the Republic Day next year, an invitation which has been accepted by the American leader.
“This Republic Day, we hope to have a friend over…invited President Obama to be the 1st US President to grace the occasion as Chief Guest,” Modi tweeted on Friday.
A few hours later, the White House issued a statement that Obama would “travel to India in January for a celebration of India’s Constitution”.
Obama, of course, will not be the first US president to visit, that honour going to Dwight Eisenhower, in 1959. Another honour — though dubious — goes to Richard Nixon, whose one-day trip in 1971 is the shortest visit to India by a US president. Jimmy Carter came calling in 1986, and visited a village in Haryana that then changed its name to Carterpuri.
Bill Clinton visited twice, first in 2000 and then again in 2003. His successor George W Bush dropped by three years later, and Obama himself came previously in 2010.