NEW DELHI, Feb 12: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday departed from France for the United States where he will meet the President Donald Trump on Thursday.
Mr Modi wrapped up his two-day visit to France after co-chairing the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit alongside French President Emmanuel Macron with whom he also held bilateral discussions. In the U.S., PM Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with President Trump in both restricted and delegation-level formats. Mr Modi will be the fourth foreign leader to visit Mr Trump in the weeks after his taking over as the 47th President of the U.S. in January.
In France, during the bilateral talks, Mr Modi and Mr Macron on Wednesday called for enhancing trade and investment ties between the two countries and committed to further deepening their engagement in the Indo-Pacific and various global forums and initiatives.
Mr Modi and Mr Macron jointly inaugurated India’s new consulate in France’s Marseille. On Tuesday Mr Modi besides co-chairing the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris also addressed the 14th India-France CEOs Forum in Paris. During his visit to France, Mr Modi also met U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and his Indian-origin wife along with their two young sons.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “The fact that the Prime Minister has been invited to visit the US within barely three weeks of the new administration taking office shows the importance of the India-US partnership and is also reflective of the bipartisan support this partnership enjoys in the US.”
PM Modi’s visit to the US will include discussions regarding trade, strategic defence cooperation and global security challenges with newly-elected Donald Trump. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said Mr Modi’s visit would be a “valuable opportunity” to engage the new administration in all areas of mutual interest.
PM Modi’s itinerary includes bilateral talks with President Trump in both restricted and delegation-level formats. The PM is also expected to meet senior US officials and engage with top business leaders and members of the Indian diaspora. Mr Modi is also likely to meet Tesla CEO and DOGE head Elon Musk. “There is an obvious convergence of interests between the two countries in a number of areas – trade, investment, technology, defence cooperation, counterterrorism, Indo-Pacific security, and of course, people-to-people relations,” the foreign secretary said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
