Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, will be in India as the Chief Guest for Republic Day celebrations. He will be the first US President to be invited as the Republic Day chief guest and his recent predecessors have been Prime Minster Abe of Japan, King Jigme Wangchuck of Bhutan, Prime Minister Shinawatra from Thailand, President Susilo Yudhoyono of Indonesia and President Lee Myung Bak from South Korea. The series of Asian heads of state being invited in the recent past reflects India’s closer ties across Asian countries eastward of India. Now India’s invitation to President Obama reflects the high importance India accords to the US and its sense of urgency in recasting the India US relations. This can also be seen as an extension of India’s Act East policy as the Pacific Ocean makes the US an integral actor in East Asia as well. Thus, right from the moment being announced in the social media by Prime Minister Modi, this upcoming visit has created a lot of ant