JOIN USBill Clinton’s visit to India is widely seen as a transformational event in the Indo-US ties that were bedevilled by years of suspicion and mistrust.
Hillary was the fourth US president to visit India and his visit had come a good over 20 years after Jimmy Carter’s 1978 visit. But after him, every US president has toured India signalling the great turnaround in the Indo-US relations over the last the decade.
Hillary, who first accompanied her husband Clinton to India, was so enamoured by the experience that she returned again to the country with her young daughter Chelsea.
“Oh, the Taj Mahal with Chelsea, yeah, I remember it fondly,” Hillary, who is expected to be part of Barack Obama’s entourage to India in November, told the ABC news in an interview when asked about her India visit as the first lady.
“That was a wonderful trip not only for us personally, but for our country because it really started the ongoing efforts that the Bush administration and now President Obama have undertaken to strengthen and deepen our relationship with India, a great partner, the world’s largest democracy,” she said. Obama will be the sixth US President to travel to India after George Bush Jr, Clinton, Carter, Richard Nixon and Dwight Eisenhower.
“President Obama will be going to India next month,” Hillary remarked.