New Delhi:
The President's Bodyguard, which ceremonially welcomed US President Barack Obama at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, was formed in 1773. That is three years before the US became independent.
The Corps was raised at Benares, now Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, by the then Governor-General Warren Hastings, with a strength of 50 men and horses, according to the website presidentofindia.nic.in.
The modern-day structure includes four officers, 14 Junior Commissioned Officers and 161 bodyguards. All men. Besides their ceremonial role, they are trained as tankmen and airborne troops.
Since its raising in 1773, the Corps had various titles and came to be known as "the Governor-General's Bodyguard" in 1784. On January 26, 1950, with India's declaration as a Republic, it became the President's Bodyguard.
The US adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.