US President Barack Obama swept aside past friction with India on Sunday to report progress on climate change and civilian nuclear power cooperation as he sought to transform a fraught relationship marked by suspicion into an enduring partnership linking the world’s oldest and largest democracies.
Kicking off a three-day visit rich in symbolism and pageantry, Obama emerged from hours of discussions with his counterpart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with what he called “a breakthrough understanding” to finally overcome years of deadlock that have prevented American firms from building nuclear reactors here, a key goal of the trip.
The president and Modi also renewed a 10-year defense pact, agreed to joint military hardware production and resolved to work together to reduce the threat of greenhouse gas emissions on the world’s climate. But the climate agreement included mostly minor initiatives compared with the deal Obama made with China last November, and it was unclear whether American companies would that agree the nuclear pact offered sufficient protection from potential liability in the case of mishaps to justify the investment.