NewDelhi: Barack Obama is set for a reunion of sorts with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Former US President will meet PM Modi when he visits Delhi, where he is to hold a town hall meeting on December 1.Obama will meet Modi on Thursday. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since Obama left the White House in January.
Modi and Obama met eight times between September 2014 and September 2016. That’s quite a high number for meetings between any two world leaders. It is an exceptionally high number of meetings with a US President for an Indian Prime Minister, considering India does not participate in as many common international forums as other traditional US allies such as France and the UK.
Obama’s last visit to India was in January 2015. He became the first US President to be take part as the chief guest in the Republic Day celebrations. Barack and Michelle Obama had also been scheduled for a visit to the Taj Mahal, which was eventually called off.
Obama was the first US President to visit India twice during his time in office. He had earlier visited in 2010, when Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister.
Obama had also jointly addressed PM Modi’s signature monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio address, and fielded questions on the programme. Obama had himself had done regular fireside chats in his first term as US President.
On his first India visit in his new avatar, Obama will also take part in a leadership summit on Thursday. He is then set to hold a town hall meetingwith around 300 people on Friday. The meet, being held by the Obama Foundation, will see Obama interacting with youth leaders from across India.
Announcing the town hall meeting, the Obama Foundation had posted this video message from the former US President.
Obama’s India visit is part of a three-nation tour that includes China and France. He is also scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping while in China.
Bureau Report
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