Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for his landmark visit to the United States. Modi's visit to the States is being considered the highest diplomatic reception reserved for closest allies.
Modi has been invited on a State visit by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.
Here are the 5 things to know about PM Modi's visit to the States:
1. The visit will commence in New York with an International Yoga Day celebration on June 21 at the United Nations Headquarters with the UN leadership and members of the international community.
2. Thereafter, Modi will leave for Washington DC on June 22 where his high-level dialogue with President Biden and other senior US leaders would continue. Soon, he would be joining President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for the State Banquet along with a number of dignitaries.
3. During his visit, on June 22, he would also address a Joint Session of the US Congress at the invitation of Congressional leadership. He would be the first prime minister to address a joint session of the US Congress twice.
4. On June 23, Modi will also be hosted at a luncheon by Vice President Kamala Harris and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Besides the official dialogue, he will also interact with leading CEOs of America's top 20 companies, business professionals, and the Indian diaspora.
5. Meanwhile, Modi is also scheduled to visit Cairo from Washington between June 24 and June 25 at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to hold high-level discussions with President Sisi along with other dignitaries of the Egypt government.
Prior to leaving for the States, Modi tweeted, "Leaving for USA, where I will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. These programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the @UN HQ, talks with @POTUS @JoeBiden , address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more."
Further, he added, "In USA, I will also get the opportunity to meet business leaders, interact with the Indian community and meet thought leaders from different walks of life. We seek to deepen India-USA ties in key sectors like trade, commerce, innovation, technology and other such areas."
"India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors. USA is India’s largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science & technology, education, health, defence and security fields. The initiative on Critical & Emerging Technologies has added new dimensions and widened collaboration to defence 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.
