Obama to be chief guest at Indian Republic Day celebrations

US President Barack Obama will attend India's Republic Day celebrations in January as chief guest, a sign of steadily expanding ties between two countries that share concerns about China's growing power in Asia.
Obama was invited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will be the first US president to attend a Republic Day celebration, the White House said Friday. Diplomats said Obama, who visited India in 2010, would also be the first US president to visit the country twice while in office.
India's relations with Washington have flourished in the past decade, although they have also had tussles over trade and other issues. The two countries are developing a strategic partnership prompted by shared concerns about China's increasingly assertive territorial claims in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a news agency.