US President Barack Obama will today witness India's Republic Day celebrations as chief guest, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Here are 10 developments in this story:
There is unprecedented security in New Delhi. A seven-layer security ring with 50,000 security personnel including 500 US Secret Service Agents are part of President Obama's security detail for his three days in the capital.
Rajpath, the wide avenue where the parade will take place there are 500 police officials who have been trained in detecting suspicious movements in the public and among the participants. They have been specifically trained to profile potential terrorists.
Extra caution has been taken in preparing security passes, as there are warnings that terrorists may try infiltrate the area using fake identities. The highlight of this year's parade will be the indigenously developed surface-to-air Akash medium range missiles and weapon locating radar.
There will also be the long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft P-8I, and the long-range advanced MiG-29K, which will be seen for the first time.
Three all-women marching contingents of the Army, Navy and the Air Force will project the theme of the parade, "Nari Shakti (woman power)".
On Sunday, a woman officer, Wing Commander Pooja Thakur, led the tri-services Guard of Honour for President Obama at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
After the parade, in the afternoon, the US President will attend President Pranab Mukherjee's "At-home," where he will meet politicians, industrialists and eminent personalities from various fields.
At 5.30 pm, the US President will attend the India-US CEO Forum meeting at the hotel Taj Palace. Another meeting with business delegations from the two countries -- India-US Business Summit - will take place later in the evening.
The US President and the First Lady had arrived on Sunday morning to a warm welcome from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had broken protocol to receive them at the airport. Their bonhomie had grown over various engagements through the day.
The two leaders also achieved a breakthrough in the civil nuclear cooperation that had been stalled for six years.
