US President Barack Obama leaves for India with wife Michelle, cancels Agra visit
Washington: US President Barack Obama on Saturday embarked on his highly anticipated three-day landmark trip to India during which the two countries will strive to make progress on climate change, defence and economic cooperation.
Obama left by Air Force One, the presidential aircraft, from the Andrews Air Force Base. The President is accompanied by a sizeable delegation that will include several top officials, as well as First Lady Michelle Obama. Obama is travelling to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Presidential aircraft will have a brief refuelling halt at Ramstein in Germany and will touch down in Delhi at 10 am on Sunday at Air Force Station, Palam.
The President, who is making his second visit to India, will be joined there by multiple members of his Cabinet, influential business leaders and a host of US lawmakers, including Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader of the US House of Representatives.
On his arrival, Obama will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at about 12 noon at the majestic Rashtrapati Bhawan by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Obama will then join Modi for a restricted working lunch at the Hyderabad House and participate in a "walk and talk" with the Indian Prime Minister there, the White House said.
The two leaders will then have an expanded delegation level meeting, which is expected to last for about an hour. Later in the evening, Obama is scheduled to meet US embassy personnel and families at ITC Maurya Hotel. He will then drive down to Rashtrapati Bhawan to attend the state banquet hosted by President Mukherjee.
On January 26, Obama will participate in the Republic Day celebration as the chief guest along with the First Lady. Later, the Obamas will attend a 'At Home' reception hosted by President Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
In the afternoon, Obama and Modi will participate in a CEO forum roundtable and make remarks at a US-India Business Summit.
On January 27 morning, the US President will give an address at Siri Fort Auditorium and then leave for Saudi Arabia. He has cancelled his much-publicised visit to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.
Obama will travel to Riyadh in order to pay respects to King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the family of the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.
However, no plane will be flying within a radius of 400 km of the Rajpath as against 300 km on earlier occasions, they said. This means airports adjoining Delhi like Jaipur, Agra and as far as Lucknow or Amritsar may not operate flights when the function will be on in the national capital.
Sticking to the past practice, no plane will land or take off at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here during the time of the parade. American officials may also be part of all radar stations and control rooms that have been set up for the visit of the US President.
The 3 km stretch of Rajpath, the main venue of the Republic Day parade, will be secured with a seven-layer security and will have over 160 CCTV cameras - with one camera installed at every 18 metres.
The control room of these cameras will be monitored at a multi-agency control room where sleuths of US Secret Service would also be present. Police has also installed around 80 face-recognition cameras around the venue of Republic Day celebrations and at the city's entry points to identify any anti-national or criminal elements.
The 80,000-strong Delhi Police force assisted by another 20,000 drawn from para-military forces and state armed police will be on vigil to prevent any untoward incident.
For the first time, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) may be deployed here on the Republic Day for vigil from the skies during the parade.
The AWACS will monitor air space above and around Rajpath where the parade will be witnessed by Obama along with President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of other dignitaries.
Specialised canine units of Indian para-military forces will be in service along with team of seven Belgian 'Malinois' dogs of the US Navy Seals which are accompanying the security personnel of the US.
Known as 'canine officers', their breed shot to limelight following Operation Neptune Spear where they sniffed out and helped in the arrest of most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden from his safehouse in Abbottabad in Pakistan.
These canines have already landed here and deployed to secure the retreat for Obama's visit - ITC Maurya - along with a dozen canines of the Indo Tibetan Border Police.
Andrews Air Base : President Barack Obama & Michelle Obama leave for India #ObamaInIndia pic.twitter.com/pcuAFP4M11
— ANI (@ANI_news) January 24, 2015