It’s the warm hug that the two men shared that seemed to say it all. If the otherwise reticent and reserved Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had chosen to throw protocol to the winds and receive US President Barack Obama and wife Michelle at the airport here on Sunday, the latter appeared to reciprocate the special gesture in equal measure by putting his arm around Dr Singh and hugging him. Air Force One, carrying the Obamas from Mumbai, had touched down precisely at 3.19 pm in what was a hazy afternoon. But the warmth evident between the Singhs — Gursharan was present too to welcome the Obamas on their first ever visit to Delhi —and the Obamas appeared to cut through the somewhat gloomy weather.
The smiling Mr Obama and wife Michelle, who was dressed in an aquamarine ensemble, had come down Air Force One holding hands. The famed Singh-Obama chemistry soon kicked in as the US President put his arm around Dr Singh and hugged him. This sent the shutterbugs into a tizzy. He then proceeded to greet Ms Singh with a peck on her cheek. US First Lady Michelle followed suit as she too planted a peck on Gursharan Kaur’s cheek.
The couples chatted for several few minutes before the Obamas were introduced to Union minister Salman Khurshid, who is the minister-in-waiting for the US President, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, Indian ambassador to the US Meera Shankar, joint secretary (Americas) Jawed Ashraf and others. US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer and senior officials of the US embassy also greeted Mr Obama. Ms Obama and Ms Singh were seen holding hands as they walked the red carpet towards the limousine that would take the Obamas to the US embassy for an interaction with American officials. PM Singh (78) and Mr Obama (49), an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi, have got along famously since they met first at the G-20 summit in London in April 2009. It was their mutual admiration that led Dr Singh to receive Mr Obama at the airport. It was only the third time in the seven years he has been in office that PM Singh accorded this gesture to a visiting dignitary.
Earlier, in 2006, he had received Mr Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.