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 It rained on the parade through the heart of New Delhi, but
excitement nevertheless ran high over Obama's landmark visit, which
began on Sunday with a clutch of deals and 'bromance' bonding with
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The two leaders announced plans to unlock billions of dollars in
nuclear trade and to deepen defense ties.
Most significant was an agreement on two issues that, despite a
groundbreaking 2006 pact, had stopped U.S. companies from setting up
nuclear reactors in India and had become one of the major irritants
in bilateral relations.
"Mobama breaks N-deadlock," the Mail Today newspaper said on its
front page, which carried a photograph of Modi and Obama hugging
each other warmly.
The bonhomie was a remarkable spectacle, given that a year ago Modi
was persona non grata in Washington and was banned from visiting the
United States for nearly a decade after deadly Hindu-Muslim riots in
a state he governed.
 Obama is the first U.S. president to attend India's Republic Day
parade, an annual show of military prowess that was long associated
with the anti-Americanism of the Cold War.
A cheer went up as he and the first lady, Michelle Obama, stepped
out of their car and walked up to the viewing dais.
Obama then sat behind a rain-spotted screen with Modi as the parade
unfolded along Rajpath, an elegant lawn-bordered boulevard dating
from the British colonial era that connects the presidential palace
to India Gate. Helicopters showered petals on the crowds, and then
tanks, missiles, stiffly saluting soldiers, brass bands and dancers
filed past the guests.
Security was tight at the parade and across the city, where tens of
thousands of police and paramilitary personnel were deployed on
street corners and rooftops.
Obama's presence at the parade - at Modi's personal invitation -
marks the latest upturn in a roller-coaster bilateral relationship
that just a year ago was in tatters.
Bickering over protectionism culminated in a fiery diplomatic spat
in 2013 and the abrupt departure of the U.S. ambassador from New
Delhi, who has only just been replaced.
COUNTERWEIGHT TO CHINA
The United States views India as a vast market and potential
counterweight in Asia to a more assertive China, but has frequently
been frustrated with the slow pace of New Delhi's economic reforms
and unwillingness to side with Washington in international affairs.
Elected last May, Modi has injected a new vitality into the economy
and foreign relations and, to Washington's delight, has begun
pushing back against China across Asia.
"The larger goal that the United States should be pursuing here is
to convince India to join a coalition of democracies to balance
China's rise," former U.S. ambassador to Beijing Jon Huntsman and
the South Asia Center's acting director, Bharath Gopalaswamy, wrote
in a joint opinion piece for Reuters.
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"Although it won’t be publicized, this topic will likely be
ever-present in their private conversations."
The two leaders emerged from their talks on Sunday with a 10-year
framework for defense ties and deals on cooperation that included
the joint production of drone aircraft and equipment for Lockheed
Martin Corp's C-130 military transport plane.
Other deals ranged from an Obama-Modi hotline - India's first at a
leadership level - to financing initiatives aimed at helping India
use renewable energy to lower carbon intensity.
Obama also enjoyed a close friendship with Modi's predecessor
Manmohan Singh, who staked his premiership on the controversial
nuclear deal that made India the sixth "legitimate" atomic power and
marked a high point in Indo-U.S. relations.
The deal failed to deliver on a promise of business for U.S.
companies because of India's reluctance to shield suppliers from
liability, a deviation from international norms that reflects the
memory of the Bhopal industrial disaster.
Sounding a sour note amid the celebrations, President Pranab
Mukherjee gave a stern assessment of India 65 years after it
declared itself a republic, criticizing parliamentary dysfunction
and the overuse of decrees.
In a Republic Day address on Sunday, India's largely ceremonial
president was also scathing about rampant violence against women in
the world's second most populous nation.
Mukherjee said the opposition should debate laws responsibly rather
than disrupting the houses of parliament, and warned Modi's
government against governing by decree.
He was referring to 10 "ordinances" issued by Modi, including ones
to raise the foreign investment limit in insurance, auction coal
mines and ease land acquisitions.
Modi issued the decrees after opposition parties prevented
parliament from functioning in protest at comments against religious
minorities made by members of his Hindu nationalist party.
(Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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