Washington, Feb 13 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived on Wednesday evening in a snow-covered capital for a two-day US visit focused on his first in-person interaction with President Donald Trump after the latter’s return to the White House for a non-consecutive second term.
The Prime Minister, who flew in from France where he was for the AI summit and bilateral meetings with President Emmanuel Macron, was received at the airport by Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra and others. He will spend the night at Blair House, a US government facility less than 100 metres from the White House and is expected to meet government officials and business leaders.
Prime Minister Modi will meet President Donald Trump on Thursday for bilateral meetings, which will be capped by dinner at which the two leaders will be joined only by a few guests.
Trade and energy are likely to figure high on the list of items for their discussions, which take place on Thursday noon (early Friday morning in India). The outcomes will be announced in a joint statement shortly after their meetings.
The Prime Minister will hold bilateral meetings with Trump Department officials and business leaders until then.
Prime Minister Modi and President Trump share a warm and close relationship. They jointly addressed a “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston, Texas, in 2019 and the Indian leader welcomed the President in his home state of Gujarat in 2020 with a “Namaste Trump” rally in Ahmedabad.
“You have done a great honour to the American people. Melania and my family, we will always remember this remarkable hospitality. We will remember it forever. From this day on, India will always hold a very special place in our hearts,” President Trump had said during his address at the Ahmedabad rally.
Prime Minister Modi will be among President Trump’s earliest group of foreign leaders he has received after returning to the White House. His first was Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was followed by Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
PM Modi and Trump spoke first within days of the latter’s re-election in November 2024 and then for the second time after the American leader had been sworn in.
A White House visit for the Prime Minister was discussed on this call, the White House said in a readout and the announcement confirming it followed shortly after.
“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 that this partnership enjoys in the United States,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters at a special briefing recently on the visit and the visit to France preceding it.
“And the visit will be a valuable opportunity to engage the new administration on all areas of mutual interest.”
“There is an obvious convergence of interests between the two countries in a number of areas, trade, investment, technology, defence cooperation, counter-terrorism in the security of the Indo-Pacific, and of course, people-to-people relations,” he said further and added, “The 5.4-million strong Indian community in the US and the more than 350,000 students from India who are pursuing studies in US universities strengthen this bond immeasurably.”
The Prime Minister’s visit will cap intense Indian engagement already under the Trump administration.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attended President Trump’s inauguration, including the private, off-camera prayer meeting, and then the celebrations.
The next day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio received him as his first counterpart to meet and visit him at the State Department. US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a phone call a few days ago.
–IANS
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