PM arrives in New York, kicks off key visit to US

In New York, Modi is scheduled to meet a select group of about two dozen individuals from sectors as diverse as business, arts, thinktank community, and more.

Washington: Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi arrived in New York on Tuesday afternoon eastern time (late Tuesday night IST) to reinforce what he termed ties “based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom” between India and the United States (US), with both countries standing together to address “shared global challenges”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in New York (PTI)

In a departure statement before leaving New Delhi, Modi, who is in US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, said the invitation reflected the “vigour and vitality of the partnership between our democracies”.

Saying that India-US ties were multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors, Modi said, “USA is India’s largest trade partner in goods and services. We collaborate closely in science and technology, education, health, defence and security fields.” He added that the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (ICET) — which was launched this January — 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”, the PM said.

Modi will lead the International Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations headquarters on Wednesday morning eastern time. HT had first reported on the details of the event on May 31, where the UN General Assembly president, Csaba Korosi, diplomatic representatives from permanent missions of countries to the UN, the New York mayor Eric Adams, and members of the diaspora are expected to join the PM. The UN, with the overwhelming support of member states, had declared June 21 as Yoga Day nine years ago. Modi said, “I look forward to this special celebration at the very location that supported India’s proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga.”

He will then depart for Washington DC on Wednesday. During what officials on both sides, and observers, are already billing as a historic visit, the PM will be accorded a ceremonial welcome in the White House, attend a state dinner hosted by the Bidens and a lunch hosted by vice president Kamala Harris, address a joint meeting of the US Congress, and engage with business leaders, Indian-American professionals, and the diaspora.

Modi said that his discussions with 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”; the last refers to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, an economic grouping that the US launched last year with 13 other countries.

With the US Congress extending a rare invite to PM to address a joint meeting between the House and Senate for a second time, Modi noted that the US Congress had always “provided strong bipartisan support to India-US ties”.

Modi will address business executives and professionals at the Kennedy Centre in Washington on June 23, which will be followed by a community event where he addresses the diaspora at Reagan Centre in the US capital. “Strong people-to-people linkages have been instrumental in developing the trust between our countries. I look forward to meeting the vibrant Indian-American community that represents the best of our societies.” Modi also said he will meet some the leading CEOs to discuss opportunities for elevating “trade and investment relationship and for building resilient global supply chains”.

In an interview to HT this week, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that visit will be defined by “substantive outcomes” in the domains of defence, high-tech cooperation, economic investment and people-to-people ties. HT has also reported on the US administration pushing through approvals for the manufacture of GE F414 jet engines in India and other deliverables in the domains of space, higher education, semiconductor manufacturing, mobility, and trade.