New Delhi, Nov 21 In a major sign of deepening India-US ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday invited US President Barack Obama to be the chief guest at the Jan 26, 2015 Republic Day parade.
“This Republic Day, we hope to have a friend over…invited President Obama to be the 1st US President to grace the occasion as Chief Guest,” Modi tweeted.
The invitation to Obama comes weeks after Modi’s hugely successful visit to the US. Modi and Obama also met on the sidelines of G20 summit in Brisbane on Nov 14. Obama had called Modi a “man of action.”
This will be Obama’s second visit to India. He had visited India in 2010 at the invitation of then prime minister Manmohan Singh and had addressed a joint session of parliament.