PM Modi in US – Contours of Four Days Visit

Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi will pay an official working visit to the United States of America from the 22nd to the 25th of September. Post Covid, this will be the Prime Minister’s first visit abroad, beyond the neighbourhood. Prime Minister is accompanied by a high level delegation, consisting of the External Affairs Minister, the National Security Adviser, Foreign Secretary and senior officials.

The main elements of the programme are bilateral meetings with the US leadership, participation the QUAD Leaders’ Summit, address at the UN General Assembly and business interactions. One of the highlights of the visit is the Prime Minister’s meeting with the US President, President Joe Biden in the White House. This is the first in-person meeting of PM Modi with President Biden as President of the United States of America. The leaders have been in regular contact in recent months. It was in November 2020 that the Prime Minister called to congratulate President Biden in his electoral victory. Since then, they’ve spoken in February and April this year. The Prime Minister has also participated in three major conferences and summits with President Biden as a participant. These were the QUAD leaders’ Summit, which was virtually held in March last year, this year. There is also the Climate Leaders’ Summit, which President Biden has hosted and they also participated in the G7 summit, the Prime Minister attended virtually in Cornwall in the UK.

The Prime Minister  participated in the COVID-19 Global summit hosted by President Biden on 22 September. At their bilateral meeting on the 24th of September the Prime Minister and President Biden will review the robust and multifaceted India-US bilateral relationship. They will also discuss how the Comprehensive Strategic Global Partnership between our two countries can be enriched further. The two leaders are expected to discuss how to bolster a bilateral trade and investment ties, strengthen defence and security collaboration, boost the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership, explore new avenues and emerging technologies, including through R&D, innovation and industry linkages. The bilateral meeting will also feature current regional security situation following recent developments in Afghanistan, our stakes as a neighbour and a long standing and preferred development partner of the people of Afghanistan. Indian delegation would discuss the need to stem radicalism, extremism, cross border terrorism, and the dismantling of global terrorist networks. They will also discuss the reform of the multilateral system including the UN Security Council.

It is expected that the Prime Minister will highlight the importance of people to people ties between the two nations and the potential of enhancing these ties further, especially through higher education, linkages and mobility.

The Prime Minister’s bilateral engagements include a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris, this will be the Prime Minister’s first formal interaction with the Vice President. It would be recalled that the Prime Minister and Vice President Harris spoke on the telephone in June this year. The Vice President had offered to prioritise India, in making US vaccines available in the wake of the COVID situation at that time in India. At their meeting at the White House, the Prime Minister and Vice President Harris are expected to exchange views on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Prime Minister would be having some business level interactions with the objective of strengthening two way trade and investments. The US is a very large investor in India, there are a lot of companies that have not only invested significantly in India, but also have the potential to invest either in terms of new investments or expand their existing investments in India. In that context, the Prime Minister will have few meetings with select CEOs of leading US companies.

This is the first time that there would be an in-person QUAD summit on the 24th of September, held at the White House. Prime Minister will join Prime Minister Morrison, Prime Minister Suga and President Biden for the summit. Prime Minister participated in the virtual QUAD summit in March convened by President Biden. This is the first plurilateral engagement of President Biden. It signalled the priority that his administration accorded to the QUAD and it was also the first meeting of QUAD leaders and meet virtually. India sees the QUAD as a partnership among four like minded countries, in the pursuit of common interests in striving for a free open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. At the summit in March, the leaders had announced a broad array of initiatives including on vaccines, infrastructure, emerging technologies and climate change. The four leaders will share views and perspectives on the regional situation and the emerging challenges including in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific region on how to work together to contain COVID-19, evolve a common approach to emerging technologies and a means of addressing climate change. The leaders will take stock of progress made since the March summit especially in the COVID-19 vaccine partnership, they will identify new areas of cooperation that will reinforce the positive and constructive agenda of the port, including contemporary areas that will benefit the Indo-Pacific region as a whole.

On the 25th of September, the Prime Minister will be the first head of state of government to address the United Nations General Assembly at its 76th session. The theme for this year’s general debate is  “building resilience through hope to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainability, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people and revitalise the United Nations”. While addressing the UN General Assembly, the Prime Minister will dwell on the important issues, including the regional situation, cross border terrorism, global efforts to combat COVID-19 and climate change and the need to reform multilateral institutions.

The fourth element of the Prime Minister’s visit would be bilateral meetings with Japan and Australia. The Prime Minister will meet the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. This is their first meeting in-person in the post pandemic period. India-Australia relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Just recently, India had  two plus two dialogue with the Foreign and Defence Ministers of Australia visiting India and the two Prime Ministers are likely to discuss the gamut of India-Australia relations and I think anything that is of mutual interest to both our countries. The Prime Minister will also meet Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, the Honourable Prime Minister of Japan. This will be their first in-person meeting and follows three telephone conversations they had recently, they will review progress in the close and multifaceted cooperation between India and Japan under the framework of the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership and discuss priorities for the future.

The  visit of the Prime Minister to USA would not only enhance peace, depth and diversity of our bilateral relations, it would also give an opportunity to further strengthen our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership on issues of mutual concern.

(Source: MEA Media Briefing Transcript)