Modi breaks protocol to meet Obama at airport

US president makes bid for strategic partnership with premier formerly shunned by Washington

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signaled his determination to improve relations with the United States by breaking with protocol to meet and give a bear hug to US President Barack Obama as Obama landed in New Delhi on Sunday.

Obama's visit is a fresh bid to make India an enduring strategic partner and will nurture his friendship with a prime minister who a year ago was persona non grata in Washington.

Even before the first official meeting between the two leaders, Indian media reported that negotiators had struck a deal on civilian nuclear trade.

The NDTV news channel said the two sides had ironed out differences over the liability of suppliers in the event of a nuclear accident and the tracking of material supplied.

The White House declined to comment on the reports, and the spokesman for India's Ministry of External Affairs said only "we hope for a positive outcome at the end of the day".

Obama will be the first US president to attend India's Republic Day parade, a show of military might long associated with the anti-Americanism of the Cold War period, and he will host a radio show with Modi.

His presence at Monday's parade at Modi's personal invitation is the latest revival in a rollercoaster relationship between the two largest democracies that just a year ago was in tatters.

"I'd like to think the stars are aligned to finally realize the vision (of) India and America as true global partners," Obama said in an interview with the magazine India Today published on Friday.

Modi greeted Obama and his wife, Michelle, on the tarmac of the airport as they came down the steps from Air Force One on a smoggy winter morning. The two leaders hugged each other warmly.

According to protocol, the prime minister does not greet foreign leaders on their arrival, meeting them instead at a formal ceremony at the presidential palace. Modi made the decision himself to break with tradition and surprised even his own aides.

As Obama's motorcade headed off for the welcoming ceremony at the residence of President Pranab Mukherjee, the roads were lined with armed police and soldiers, part of a highly choreographed plan for the visit.

Up to 40,000 security personnel have been deployed for the visit and 15,000 new closed-circuit surveillance cameras have been installed in the capital.

The two countries reached an agreements to break a six-year impasse on the landmark civil nuclear deal.

"The civil nuclear deal was the centerpiece of Indo-US understanding. Six years after we signed a bilateral agreement we are moving toward commercial viability," Modi said at a joint news conference with Obama.

Though Modi did not clearly say whether the nuclear deal has been finally inked, Obama was more categorical after the differences were ironed out. "We have achieved a breakthrough understanding on the civil nuclear deal," he said.

Reuters - Xinhua - AFP

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets US President Barack Obama on his and US first lady Michelle Obama's arrival in New Delhi on Sunday. Provided By Agence France-Presse