Officials from India and US slog to get most from Barack Obama visit

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's diplomatic calendar in January will be dominated by the visit of US President Barack Obama, chief guest for the Republic Day, the first US president to be given this honour.

Officials from both sides are burning the midnight oil to put together a visit that will have a fair share of spectacle, personal touches, substance and incredible India. At the heart of it is the building of the personal relationship between Modi and Obama. Therefore, in keeping with transactional sentiments in both countries, Modi is keen the summit should have substantive outcomes.

The Obama visit is likely to be for two days. One day will be taken up with the Republic Day festivities and the ceremonial meetings with the Prime Minister and President. On the second day Obama is expected to do a town hall meeting — this won't be in the nature of what Modi did in Madison Square Garden in New York, though. Rather it would be more manageable numbers and somewhat like what Obama did in St Xavier's College, Mumbai when he was last here.

It's not yet clear whether the US president will bring his teenage daughters, Malia and Sasha, though they have apparently received a special invitation to visit. But Obama and Michelle, the first lady, might fulfill another destination on their global checklist — the de rigueur pose in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra. Its highly unlikely Obama will be able to fit in another city into his schedule.

As it is, Obama will be moving forward his state of the union address to accommodate this India visit. (Susan Rice, Obama's NSA, visited India as a tourist in 2013 with her children to travel through Rajasthan.)

The substance of the visit will require a lot more work. It was after all, just four months ago that Modi and Obama met in Washington and put out a fairly detailed action plan covering key areas such as defence, smart cities, education etc. The upside of having another summit in quick succession is that it gets officials on both ends to work on the "deliverables". Sources said these would essentially take off from the September agreements.

Energy is likely to be on top of the agenda for both discussions and agreements. India is looking for a sustainable energy policy which could include a significant portion from renewable sources. Not only is this part of the PM's own agenda, this would help India work out a better deal for itself in the forthcoming climate summit in Paris.

For this India will need a lot of help and technology from the US. For his part, Obama, with a climate deal with China under his belt, would be looking for a way to bring India into the climate agreement that could deliver a global success in Paris.

While solar energy will be big, nuclear energy also holds promise — but for that India would have to take steps on liability. With the Modi government failing to pass key economic legislation despite a huge parliamentary majority, it's unclear whether they would venture into an area fraught with controversy at present.

India and US are likely to renew a 10-year defence pact. With India opening up the defence sector to foreign investment, both sides will look for possibilities for joint production and co-development under the rubric of defence cooperation. Working in India's favour is the new US defence secretary, Ash Carter. Carter was personally responsible for crafting the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) with former NSA Shivshankar Menon.

As defence secretary, the Indian government expects to have a good relationship with him.

The US has worked overtime to confirm an ambassador to India. Richard Verma arrived in New Delhi on Friday and will be presenting credentials to the President in the next few days. Having to deliver a presidential visit in the next few weeks, he will have to hit the ground running. In a statement, the US embassy quoted Verma as saying he would work "with the Indian government on our shared goals of security, development, and prosperity."