Previewing President Obama’s Trip to India

President Barack Obama will travel to India to be chief guest at its Republic Day ceremony on January 26. This is the first time that India has extended that honor to an American president, and also the first time that an American president will visit India twice. It follows relatively soon after the summit between President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington in September, and closely on the heels of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry attending the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in India earlier this month.

On January 22, The India Project at Brookings hosted an event to preview President Obama’s trip to India. The panel discussed India’s role in U.S. strategy. Panelists also talked about what is expected from President Obama’s trip, including the issues likely to be discussed and the impact on the broader relationship, particularly in the economic, defense and regional arenas. Panelists included Alyssa Ayres, senior fellow for India, Pakistan & South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations; Richard Fontaine, president of Center for a New American Security; Richard Rossow, the Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and Joshua White, deputy director of the South Asia program at the Stimson Institute. Tanvi Madan, fellow in Foreign Policy and director of The India Project at Brookings, moderated the discussion.

As the two leaders prepare to meet in New Delhi, the Brookings India Center in New Delhi and The India Project in Washington, D.C. produced a briefing book consisting of 16 memos written by a wide array of Brookings experts.

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