New Delhi: Convention has it that chief guests at India’s Republic Day celebrations, as also other visiting foreign dignitaries, stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan—the magnificent presidential palace sitting atop Raisina Hill in the centre of Delhi. But that seems more the exception than the norm these days.

When US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle land in New Delhi on Sunday to attend India’s 66th Republic Day celebrations, they will be heading for the Maurya Sheraton, one of Delhi’s top hotels.

Obama is not the only Republic Day chief guest or US president to shun the old world charms on offer at the Indian president’s 340-room official residence built in the early 20th century and designed by the British architect Edwin Lutyens.

US presidents Bill Clinton in March 2000 and George W. Bush six years later too preferred to opt for the Maurya Sheraton and its modern amenities. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, chief guest at last year’s Republic Day celebrations, stayed at the Taj Palace Hotel.

One of the first foreign leaders to part with tradition and express his desire to stay in a hotel was former French president Jacques Chirac, Republic Day chief guest in 1998. “One of the reasons why Chirac wanted to stay in a hotel was because he requested a more informal atmosphere at his place of stay—to go for a swim or a drink at the bar with travelling journalists," recalls a foreign ministry official.

“Nowadays, it’s fairly common for foreign guests to stay at hotels because of the ease of movement, security considerations, etc.," said former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh. “When Indian leaders go abroad, they also prefer to stay in hotels."

Journalist Kalyani Shankar in her book Nixon, Indira and India notes that former prime minister Indira Gandhi stayed at Blair House, the official guest house of the US president, during her visit to Washington in November 1971, weeks before India went to war with Pakistan.

It was a visit that was marked by rancour rather than bonhomie with US president Richard Nixon opposing India’s intervention over Bangladesh.

Two years before that, as only the second US president visiting India, Nixon had stayed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Dwight Eisenhower, who visited India in 1959, also stayed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, as did Jimmy Carter in 1979.

“During one of her later visits to Washington, Mrs. Gandhi moved to a hotel which was near the White House and this was because Blair House could not accommodate the entire delegation," said Mansingh.

More recently, when prime minister Vajpayee visited Washington, he mostly stayed in a hotel, said Mansingh who was India’s ambassador to the US during Vajpayee’s prime ministership.

Dignitaries who have stayed at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in recent years include Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan in 2013 and Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid in 2014. Both were bilateral visits, two people familiar with the matter said, requesting anonymity.

The last time a Republic Day chief guest stayed at Rashtrapati Bhavan was in 2013—King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan. “The king of Bhutan has traditionally stayed at Rashtrapati Bhavan," said the second person cited above.

The need to get away from the reported stuffiness of the presidential palace may be one reason. But security is likely a bigger consideration.

It was 15 years ago that American security agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency, turned down the offer to put up Clinton at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and chose the Maurya Sheraton—apparently for its location and security.

US presidential delegations tend to be large and the entire venue of accommodation needs to be secured for a visit, something that would be difficult to enforce at the Rashtrapati Bhavan—a 200,000 sq. ft stone mansion set on a 33-acre estate.

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