Obama Visits Memorial to Mahatma Gandhi on First Day of India Trip - East Idaho News
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Obama Visits Memorial to Mahatma Gandhi on First Day of India Trip

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Getty 012515 ObamaIndiaWreath?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1422201344585Photo by Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images(NEW DELHI) — President Obama arrived in India for a three-day trip on Sunday, visiting the Raj Gat, a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi.

The U.S. president laid a wreath of white flowers at the site where Gandhi, the father of modern India, was cremated after his 1948 assassination on Sunday. He also inscribed the guest book, referencing Martin Luther King, Jr.

“What Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said then remains true today,” Obama wrote. “‘The spirit of Gandhi is very much alive in India, and it remains a great gift to the world. May we always live in his spirit of love and peace — among all people and nations.'”

While at the Raj Gat, Obama bowed next to the eternal flame and threw two handfuls of flower petals atop the marble platform. He also planted a tree to honor Ghandi’s legacy.

Later on Sunday, Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked through the gardens of the Hyderabad House, the state guesthouse for the Indian prime minister, drinking tea and discussing a long-stalled civil nuclear deal that would allow American companies to build reactors in India.

At a joint press conference, Obama discussed the agreed upon friendship agreement. “Not only is it grounded in the values we share,” he said, “but it commits us to regular meetings at the leaders level and sets up frequent consultations across our government.”

On the Indian prime minister, Obama said that Modi “described…his ambitious efforts to empower rural Indians with bank accounts, and to ensure clean water and clean air for the Indian people; and we want to be partners in this effort.”

The two nations also agreed to work together, on a leadership level, to tackle climate change and renewed a defense agreement that was set to expire in June.


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