Mann Ki Baat: It was PM Modi's idea to invite Obama for joint radio address

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have not been as regular as he may have liked with his ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio address but he’s going to have a special guest in the studio for the address that is to be broadcast on 27 January: US president Barack Obama. Obama who is here to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations will be making a joint radio address with Modi that the Indian Prime Minister says will illustrate the special bond between India and the US. The Hindustan Times reports that it was Modi’s idea — to invite Obama, with whom shares a chemistry now after several meetings — from all available accounts. “Officials at the Indian embassy in Washington went to work, and didn’t really have to sweat as the White House was quickly on board. When it was all done, and in the bag, there was excitement in New Delhi about how to break it. Every known, time-worn PIB tool was considered, and cast aside.”, the report added. [caption id=“attachment_2058587” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The poster released for the joint address. Image courtesy: Twitter[/caption] While there had been speculation over the joint address, the Prime Minister today tweeted about the event and invited people to send questions till 25 January via Twitter or the MyGov platform. Here’s what he tweeted:

The Indian Prime Minister, for whom getting a US President for Republic Day celebrations for the first time ever is being seen a massive diplomatic achievement, the joint address will be the icing on the cake. However, this isn’t the first time the two leaders have worked on a message together, with Modi and Obama authoring an editorial for the Washington Post when the Indian Prime Minister had visited the US, in which they had spoken of a renewed partnership between the two countries. The Prime Minister started his radio address titled ‘Mann ki baat’ since October 2014 and has discussed a range of issues in the news ranging from black money to drugs. For President Obama, the radio address is nothing new given he has a weekly video address every week to the nation. Given how media savvy the two leaders are, it isn’t unreasonable to expect a lot of rhetoric on how the diplomatic ties between the two countries are improving and a lot of mutual back patting, but hopefully they won’t let it become a complete snooze-fest.