iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. A grand reception awaited him at the airport as people waved the Indian flag and greeted him with chants of “Modi”.
Modi began his first state visit to the US by interacting with the members of the Indian diaspora after landing in NY. During his visit to New York, Modi will meet CEOs, Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians, and health sector experts. The Indian PM will attend Yoga Day celebrations at the UN headquarters on June 21 and then head to Washington DC where a ceremonial welcome awaits him at the White House on June 22.
Before leaving for the US, Modi issued a statement: “I am traveling to the United States of America on a State Visit at the invitation of President Joseph Biden and First Lady Dr Jill Biden. This special invitation is a reflection of the vigor and vitality of the partnership between our democracies. I will commence my visit in New York, where I will celebrate the International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community. 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.”
After that Modi will travel to Washington D.C. where he has met President Biden during his last official visit to the US in September 2021. “This visit will be an opportunity to enrich the depth and diversity of our partnership.”
“India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors. The US is India’s largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science & technology, education, health, defense, and security fields. The initiative on Critical & 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,” Modi said.
“My discussions 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,” he added.
Modi will also join President Biden and the First Lady for the State Banquet along with a number of dignitaries. He is also scheduled to address a Joint Session of the US Congress. “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,” Modi said.
On June 23, the Prime Minister will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. In addition to official engagements, the Prime Minister is scheduled to have several interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian diaspora.
White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby during a press conference said that Modi’s visit to the US will strengthen the shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific and the resolve to elevate strategic technology partnership including in defense. Kirby said that it is a big week at the White House as the President and First Lady welcome the Prime Minister of India for an official state visit and dinner. Kirby said India and the US are “increasingly partners of first resort” in the Indo-Pacific.
He said that PM Modi and US President Joe Biden will discuss ways to further enhance educational exchanges and people-to-people ties as well as work together to tackle common challenges. “This visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the US and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together,” Kirby added. “As the world’s oldest and largest democracies and as key net security partners in the Indo-Pacific, the US, and India are increasingly partners of first resort as a combined force for global good.”
Terming India a “critical strategic partner” for the US in the coming decades, he said that India’s growing commitment to playing a more engaged international role in the Indo-Pacific, Quad demonstrates a new and growing readiness to join the US to protect and advance a shared vision of free, open and rules-based order. “As a combined force for global good, India will be a critical strategic partner for the US in the coming decades. India’s growing commitment to playing a more engaged international role, including in the Indo-Pacific Quad, demonstrates a new and growing willingness to join the US to protect and advance a shared vision of free, open, and rules-based order,” Kirby said.
