File photo: PM Modi with US President Barack Obama. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
With preparations and the itinerary for President Barack Obama's visit in the last-mile phase, officials tell NDTV that US and Indian officials are looking at creating a "special moment" in the league of the spontaneous visit to the Martin Luther King memorial that was taken when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the White House late last year.
Sources in the Indian government say there may be a walk to the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, or a joint radio address, described by officials as "a work in progress". The PM addresses the nation every month with a radio speech titled "Mann Ki Baat (From the Heart)."
When PM Modi visited the US last year, a joint statement with Mr Obama was titled "Chalein Saath Saath" (Moving Forward, Together) and pledged a deeper economic and strategic partnership between their countries. The leaders also co-wrote an editorial for The Washington Post.
President Obama arrives in Delhi on the 25th for a three-day visit. He will become the first US President to serve as Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations that mark the day when the Constitution was adopted.
When PM Modi visited Washington DC last year, in a unique departure from protocol, Mr Obama took him on a short motorcade drive from the White House to the memorial honoring slain US civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
In Delhi today, US Ambassador Richard Verma described the upcoming visit as 'a defining moment for Indo-US ties' and underscored the Obama administration's goal of an increase in bilateral trade to $500 billion a year from about $100 billion currently.