Politics
On the second day of President Barack Obama's visit to India that has been seen as a sign of warming ties between the two nations, he made history by becoming the first U.S. head of state to attend India's Republic Day celebrations in Delhi. Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took in the colorful parade inside a "bulletproof glass enclosure," reports the BBC, taking note of the display meant to mark the adoption of India's constitution in 1950, three years after its independence from Britain.
The U.S. president capped his visit with a pledge of $4 billion in the aim of releasing "untapped potential" of the two countries' partnership. The announcement came one day after both sides announced a breakthrough on a pact that will allow U.S. companies to supply India with civilian nuclear technology, a deal that Modi described as a "new journey" of co-operation.
Obama will be cutting his visit to India short in order to pay his respects to the family of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who died Thursday at that age of 90 to be by his half-brother as King Salman. The U.S. president's choice to go to Saudi Arabia has met with some domestic criticism, according to The Washington Post, with some claiming that the visit, originally to be carried out by Vice President Joe Biden, would be too much of a distraction from "domestic concerns" so soon after the president's State of the Union adress.
Some political strategists, however, have praised the move, according to CNN, stating that with recent tensions that have arisen in the U.S.-Saudi Arabian relationship, the threat of Islamic jihadist groups and the fluctuating oil prices, a condolence call from the U.S. president could go a long way toward soothing ruffled feathers.
