Modi, Obama to interact at least seven times during visit

New Delhi, Jan 22 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama will interact on at least seven different occasions during the three-day visit of the US president beginning Jan 25.

Modi will be there to receive Obama during the ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan after the US president lands in Delhi at 10 a.m. on Jan 25 on Air Force Once.

Both would meet again at the bilateral talks in Hyderabad House where Modi would be leading the Indian delegation at the talks.

In the evening, Modi would be present at the official banquet hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee for the US president.

Modi and Obama would again meet during the Republic Day parade on Jan 26 at Rajpath and be seated near each other. At President Mukherjee’s customary At Home Reception that evening, both Obama and Modi would be present.

The two would then address a business event in the evening, hosted by the US-India Business Council (USIBC).

Both are to also record the ‘Mann ki Baat’ (Sharing my thoughts) episode for the joint radio broadcast on Jan 27.

“They will have multiple occasions to interact and adequate time to discuss issues of consequence,” the external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said at a briefing here.

Obama, who is chief guest at this year’s Republic Day parade, has described Modi as a “man of action”.

The two first met during Modi’s visit to the US in September, where both sides held summit level talks in Washington.

They met again in Myanmar during the East Asia Summit and in Brisbane during the G20 in November.

Both leaders have developed a perceived degree of warmth in ties, which are necessary to push forward the strategic ties.