New Delhi, the capital of India welcomed the Obamas after their sojourn at Mumbai for two days.
The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh and his wife Madam Gursharan Kaur were in the Delhi airport to welcome the couple on the red carpet.
The couple descended the aircraft specially made for the President of the US – Air Force 1.
Shaking hands, hugging and exchanging pleasantries took few minutes; afterwards Obamas entered the black limousine waiting for them in the tarmac.
They visited the Humayun’s Tomb – a 450-year-old Mugal Monument located in 32-acre plot in South Delhi’s Nizamuddin area.
Obama lauded the architecture of the Tomb and spent some time with school children aged between five and 13 with whom Obama and his wife posed for a group photograph.
Also the Obamas distributed gifts to the children that comprised a two-and-half-inch silver bookmark with the US presidential seal which carried Mr. Obama’s signature.
I do not know how much the children liked their gift?
Still a gift is a gift especially for children who keep it as precious as possible.
Obama’s love for children was shown more than ones during his visit to India.
It would be a great inspiration for those children to meet, touch and speak to a person who is the President of a big country like the US.
The evening ended with a dinner hosted by the Indian Prime Minister in his residence on Race Course Road, New Delhi.
Fifty Indians and 20 Americans were the guests for the dinner.
Before the dinner one-hour time was spent on a one-on-one meeting between the American President and the Indian Prime Minister.
No one knows what they spoke.
Only the two leaders know.
May be the top secrets!
After the meeting the dinner was served and after the dinner everyone retired for the day with a hope that the President of the US will deliver a speech in the joint Parliamentary meeting on 8 November 2010.
Obama had meetings with Sonia Gandhi, the UPA chairperson and Sushma Swaraj the opposition leader of BJP at ITC Maurya Hotel where he stayed.
I would imagine that the two ladies might have been impressed by the charming Obama through his cultured conversation.
Since he was open minded to receive the opinions of leaders and try to convince them with his counter arguments, the two ladies might have satisfied fully.
Also Obama and his wife visited Mahatma Gandhi Samadhi at Rajghat.
They laid a wreath at the memorial of the Father of the Nation.
Since there was no space left for planting he could not plant a sapling as many others could do earlier.
He was very much impressed by the simple and beautiful place for the memorial.
He and his wife wrote in the guest book:
‘We will always remember the great soul who changed the world with his message of peace, tolerance and love. More than 60 years after his passing, his light continues to inspire the world.’
These two sentences carried the inner feelings of the Obamas and also expressed the principle of Gandhiji’s non-violence and the philosophy of simple life.
Obama presented a white stone brought all the way from Martin Luther king Junior’s Memorial in Washington D.C.
It was set on a small black base that had the Presidential seal and Mr. Obama’s signature embossed on it.
Obama also held delegation-level talks with Manmohan Singh and at the end addressed a press conference together.
The joint statements included a range of interactions between India and the US, from Afghanistan and outer space to the Indian Ocean, higher education, energy, agriculture and climate change.
In the evening, the President was brought to the Parliament Central Hall by Madam Meira Kumar, the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Mr. Hamid Ansari, Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
In his 40-minute formidable address he paid glowing tributes to the rising India.
After addressing the common traditions and interests of the two countries, he pronounced what the parliamentarians wanted to hear and cheer.
The loudest applause came when said: ‘I look forward to a reformed United nations Security Council that includes India a permanent member.’
I presumed that it was only an expectation not a promise.
However, everyone was happy that they could hear from the President of the US such an expectation.
Another important segment of his speech liked by the parliamentarians and media was that he said: ‘We will continue to insist to Pakistan’s leaders that terrorist safe-havens within their borders are unacceptable and that terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks must be brought to justice.”
Although not much comes out of his statement, still he as the President of the US spilled out this much to send a message to the Pakistan authorities.
More than that is not possible to expect from Obama.
He talked about green revolution, climate change, democracy, Burma (Myanmar), Iran and many other aspects both counties have to involve.
The walls of Parliament Central Hall would not have heard or the past Indian leaders’ portraits kept over there would not have heard such an extraordinary diplomatic speech embedded with optimism and hope.
A standing ovation for the President of the US brought the end of the function which was followed by a dinner hosted by the President of India, Pratibha Singh Patil to make a happy ending to Obama’s state visit to India.
One cannot forget the good words Obama stated at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
‘One thing I observed during my visit was that India is doing so well because it has so many strong women leaders.”
Every Indian woman should be proud of the President’s statement.
Education is the primary key to open the door for women to go a long way to occupy the leadership of a democratic country like India.
One the whole, in brief, the visit of Obamas to India went on very well, peaceful and satisfied many minds which had doubts and fear.
Security alert was very strict and the safe stay of Obamas and their officials in India has to be remembered for ever by one and all.
10 November 2010
