Historic U.S. Presidential Visits to India

BENGALURU: It is certainly not the first time that a U.S. President is paying a visit to India but definitely the first time that a U.S. President is being invited as the Chief Guest for the most celebrated national event of the year—The Republic Day Parade. It is an honor to have U.S. President Barack Obama amidst us. This particular visit of Obama is much more significant than his earlier visit marking transition in the government.

As the preparations ahead of Obama’s meeting reach the last stages, we need to recall those previous U.S. Presidents who came to India. And we would be surprised to find the reasons they were here for:

Dwight D Eisenhower (July 31, 1969):

Dwight D Eisenhower fulfilled his childhood dream to see Taj Mahal when he visited India on a five-day tour as the first ever U.S. President, in the last year of his second term. During his visit, Eisenhower spoke at a huge public rally at New Delhi’s famous Ramlila Ground and addressed a joint sitting of Parliament. This visit was highly symbolic as he promised more American aid to India and was responsible for bringing U.S.-India bilateral relations to a friendlier footing.

Eisenhower respected India’s Non Alignment position, as India under Jawaharlal Nehru refused to be part of either U.S. or Soviet-led military alliance. This visit clearly broke the ambiguity in the global politics as to what India means to U.S. Eisenhower went on to say that America’s relationship with India was of the head, while that with Pakistan was of the heart. Fifty years since then the tables turned completely when in 2010 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “India-U.S. relationship was an affair of the heart, not just of the head.”

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