34 warships including an aircraft carrier are patrolling the sea lanes off Mumbai coast. Security ring of American Secret Service, National Security Guards and Indian security apparatus are guarding the visitor. The visit has been timed with colorful Diwali to add to the festivity of the occasion and to make it easier for the hosts to seduce the chief guest. His entourage includes 250 investors, US universities principals seeking investment opportunities in higher education, engineering executives wanting to establish locomotive factories for making new trains, energy chief executives looking for new nuclear energy deals, defence executives eying for more defence deals.
It is more of a business oriented visit to promote US exports and less of politics. The US sees India with 1.2 billion people, 8% growth rate with $1.2 trillion GDP and nearly $50 billion Indo-US bilateral trade as a potentially important market for its exports. Indian companies are the second largest fastest growing investors in America, supporting nearly 57000 jobs. In line with policy of his two predecessors, Obama also set the tone by issuing pro-India statements. He stated that India and USA shared common interests as well as common values and were world
