US pledges US$4b for India's 'untapped potential'

New Delhi

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama ended a landmark day in India on Monday with a pledge of US$4 billion in investments and loans, seeking to release what he called the "untapped potential" of a business and strategic partnership between the world's largest democracies.

Earlier in the day, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Obama was the first US president to attend India's annual Republic Day parade, a show of military might that has been associated with Cold War anti-Americanism.

It rained as troops, tanks and cultural floats rolled through the …