New Delhi: US president Barack Obama's three day India visit was important in many aspects. The trip was a significant move towards closer India-US ties.
Obama arrived in New Delhi on the morning of January 25 to be the guest of honor at the Republic day parade. He was the first US President to be the guest of honor.
During Barack Obama's three day stay he had many round of talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Here are the major developments their talks yielded:
Nuclear Deal: During president Obama's visit, the two world leaders managed to finalize the terms and conditions on the nuclear deal that has been stuck for six years. Obama used his executive powers to roll back the condition that allowed US authorities to monitor use of nuclear material purchased by India even from third countries, a major concern of India. There are still a few hurdles that need to be sorted out before the deal takes its final shape.
India-US arrive at modus vivendi on nuclear deal
Funds for new initiatives: President Barack Obama announced funds of $4 billion to boost new initiatives and create jobs in India. Half of the $4 billion is dedicated for renewable energy investments in the country through the US Trade & Development Agency. $1 billion is for small and medium businesses across India through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
High-Level US India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue: Cutting the red-tape for the bilateral talks between the two countries, the US president announced a High-Level US India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue to monitor the progress on pacts and vision that are laid by Modi and Obama.
Climate change: President Barack Obama offered to help finance India's ambitious solar energy target for clean energy in India. India is the world's third-largest greenhouse gas emitter and has always backed developing countries in terms of higher greenhouse gas level.
Pressure on neighboring countries: Stronger ties between India and United States can put pressure on both Pakistan and China. The impact on Pakistan and China was evident by the way the both countries' media tried to downsize the importance of the visit.
Defence ties: during the visit of President Obama, India and US decided to renew their defence framework for next 10 years. Both the countries have decided to kick off joint manufacturing of four relatively modest military products and explore the development of two more high-end technologies.
The two countries decided to step up joint combat exercises, maritime security endeavours, intelligence-sharing mechanisms and military exchanges. The new framework has the key new element of Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) to boost India's defence industry.
Task Force to develop three smart cities: The last initiative taken on Obama's India trip was to set up a task force for jointly developing Allahabad, Ajmer and Vishakhapatnam as Smart Cities with a mandate of preparing the roadmap within three months.
The decision was taken at a meeting between Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and visiting Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, two days after the two countries signed pacts under which the three cities will be developed as Smart Cities with the help of United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).
