President Obama Attends India Republic Day Celebrations | Al Jazerra English | Times of India
Barack Obama has become the first US president to be the guest of honour at India's annual Republic Day parade, a colourful display of the South Asian nation's military might and cultural diversity in the heart of the capital, New Delhi.
Despite intermittent rain, large crowds flocked to see the show on Monday morning and catch a glimpse of the US president and his hosts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee.
"I'm honoured to be the first American president to attend this celebration, as well as the first president to visit India twice," Obama said.
The invitation to the annual celebration is one of the biggest honours the country can bestow on a foreign leader and underscores the growing closeness between Obama and Modi.
The parade celebrates the adoption, in 1950, of the Indian constitution - the day that India became a republic - three years after gaining independence from Britain.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mukherjee gave a stern assessment of India 65 years after it declared itself a republic, criticising parliamentary dysfunction and the overuse of decrees.
India's largely ceremonial president was also critical of violence against women in India.
Mukherjee said the opposition should debate laws responsibly rather than disrupting the houses of parliament, and cautioned Modi's government against governing by decree.
He was referring to 10 "ordinances" issued by Modi, including ones to raise the foreign investment limit in insurance, auction coal mines, and ease land acquisitions.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Obama-breaks-American-and-Indian-traditions-for-Republic-Day/articleshow/46020517.cms
Analysis: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/01/heavy-symbolism-obama-india-visit-201512461313217845.html
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Indian TV live Broadcast estimate of audience is over 100 million.
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