Obama and Singh hugged each other and Michelle planted a peck on Singh’s cheek.
US president Barack Obama and wife Michelle arrived in Delhi on Sunday on the second leg of their four-day visit to India and was received by prime minister Manmohan Singh who set aside protocol to welcome the guests.
Obama and Singh hugged each other and Michelle planted a peck on Singh’s cheek. Obama also greeted Mrs Singh with a peck on her cheek and his wife held her hand as they walked the red carpet.
Obama and Singh chatted briefly before Singh introduced him to minister-in-waiting Salman Khurshid and foreign secretary Nirupama Rao. This is the sixth time over the past two years that Obama and Singh have met.
The US first couple kicked off their engagements in Delhi with the visit to the 16th century Humayun’s Tomb. Barack and Michelle Obama went around getting a feel of the 450-year-old monument, which is said to have inspired the creation of Taj Mahal.
On Monday, Singh and Obama will get down to serious business. They will meet for bilateral treaties and signing of memorandums of understanding (MoUs).
The duo will discuss the entry of US nuclear companies, removal of American curbs on export of hi-tech and dual-use items to India, an action plan on cooperation in counter-terrorism, setting up a centre on pandemics in India that is similar to Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta.
Tie-ups in agriculture and space, economic, trade and military cooperation are on the menu too. While the MoU on agriculture will be on weather and crop forecasting, in space it will be on a commercial space launch agreement.
The US has announced its intention to support India’s full membership in four multilateral export control regimes. A formal declaration is expected on Monday.
“This membership will come in a phased manner and we’ll consult our regime members to encourage the evolution of membership criteria of these regimes consistent with maintaining their core principles,” said Mike Froman, deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs of the US government.
“When the membership criteria of these four regimes evolve, we intend to support India’s full membership in them,” he said.
The export control reform package is expected to result in greater exchanges in high-tech trade and dual-use items and bring to a close the formation of the US-India High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG) in 2002. HTCG was a forum for building the confidence necessary to facilitate trade in sensitive items.
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