Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: “Together we stand stronger,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday morning when he left for a historic five-day State Visit to the United States and Egypt.
It is his first State Visit to the US and only second by an Indian PM.
The key takeaway from his US visit could be manifold bilateral cooperation in defense, space, manufacturing, and other areas. The US, where some lawmakers are lobbying to enroll India as a member of the NATO Plus group, has spread a red carpet to welcome PM Modi in this high-profile visit.
In a statement before leaving, he said, “I am traveling to the United States of America on a State Visit at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigor and vitality of the partnership between our democracies.”
PM Modi will begin his visit on Wednesday in New York, celebrating and leading the International Day of Yoga (June 21) at the United Nations (UN) headquarters. “I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India’s proposal in December 2014 to recognize an International Day of Yoga.”
He will then travel to Washington DC, receiving a ceremonial welcome at the White House on Thursday and meeting President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a state dinner in PM Modi’s honor the same evening, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
For a second time, the PM will also address a joint sitting of the US Congress on June 22.
“(The) India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors. The USA is India’s largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science and technology, education, health, defense, and security fields. The initiative on critical and emerging technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defense industrial cooperation, space, telecom, quantum, artificial intelligence, and biotech sectors. Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific.”
PM Modi added that his meeting with President Biden and other senior US leaders “will provide an opportunity to consolidate our bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20, Quad, and IPEF.”
On Friday (June 23), US Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will jointly host PM Modi at a luncheon.
Besides these official engagements, the PM will have several curated interactions with leading chief executive officers (CEOs), professionals, and other stakeholders.
He will meet business leaders of 20 top American companies, including Mastercard, Accenture, the Coca-Cola Company, Adobe Systems, and Visa, and Tesla chief Elon Musk.
“I will also meet some of the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating our trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains,” he said.
In addition, he will address a gathering of more than 1,500 members of the Indian Diaspora and business leaders invited to the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington.
“I am confident that my visit to the US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity, and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges.”
From Washington DC, PM Modi will leave for Egypt’s capital Cairo on his first State Visit to the African country on June 24 and 25.
“I will travel to Cairo from Washington DC at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. I am excited to pay a State Visit to a close and friendly country for the first time,” PM Modi said.
President El-Sisi was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi this year.
“I look forward to my discussions with President El-Sisi and senior members of the Egyptian Government to impart further momentum to our civilizational and multi-faceted partnership. I will also have the opportunity to interact with the vibrant Indian Diaspora in Egypt,” he added.