PM Modi in US highlights: Private dinner with Biden marks PM's day-2 visit

Plant-based pioneer chef Nina Curtis has worked with the White House chefs and created a vegetarian menu for PM Modi for his state dinner.

The tent installed for the State dinner is big enough to accommodate more than 400 guests. The guest lists would be announced about an hour before the reception and the dinner.

Biden and the first lady will greet Modi on arrival for the State dinner on the South Lawns of the White House.

The prime minister will address a joint session of the US Congress, which would be attended by Congressmen and senators . Modi, who addressed the US Congress in 2016, will become only the third world leader to address such a meeting twice.

Prime Minister will join US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries on Thursday.

PM Modi will join U.S. President Joe Biden in a rare press conference on Thursday.

Prime minister highlighted numerous steps taken by India to promote education, skilling and innovation. He appreciated ongoing bilateral academic exchanges, and collaborations between Indian and US academic and research ecosystems.

"I am really happy to have got an opportunity to interact with young and creative minds here. India is working on several projects in collaboration with the NSF. I thank First Lady Jill Biden for planning and organising this event," Modi said.

To maintain the momentum of growth, a "pipeline of talent" is needed for India and the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at an event here to highlight the two nations' shared priorities around education and workforce.

He was participating in the 'Skilling For Future Event' organised by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on Wednesday and his visit to the Virginia-based agency was hosted by First Lady Jill Biden.

The event focused on workforce redevelopment across higher education institutions to expand and enhance access to quality education across society.

US lawmakers Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamie Raskin would not be attending the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s joint congressional address, alleging that the ‘Modi-led union government in India has repressed religious minorities’. Read more

Indian Muslim leader Atif Rasheed has hit back hard at U.S. Lawmaker Ilhan Omar, who accused the Narendra Modi government of repressing minorities. Watch

"Prime Minister’s participation in this special engagement reaffirms the warm friendship between our two countries," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a brief statement on the intimate dinner.

Praising yoga as “a way of life," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed poses ranging from cobra to corpse alongside a multinational crowd Wednesday at the U.N. headquarters as he kicked off the public portion of his U.S. visit.

With a checkerboard of made-in-India yoga mats covering the U.N.'s spacious north lawn, Modi stopped and bowed at a statue of the assassinated Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi before saying in brief remarks that yoga was an all-ages, portable practice accessible to all faiths and cultures.

Reports said that private engagement between the Prime Minister and US President Joe Biden is aimed at “informal warming up to each other” and “fixing the nuts and bolts” ahead of the official delegation-level talks Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington in June was expected to reduce India's dependence on Moscow for arms, economic ties and technology as New Delhi and Washington try to strengthen the Quad partnership, which also includes Japan and Australia, to contain growing aggression from China.

India considers Russia a time-tested ally from the Cold War era with key cooperation in defense, oil, nuclear energy and space exploration. But that partnership has become fraught since Moscow started developing closer ties with India’s main rival, China, because of the war against Ukraine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gifted US President Joe Biden a special sandalwood box which highlights the value and respect Indian tradition associates with experience, officials said.

Prime Minister Modi gave President Biden the unique sandalwood box sourced from Mysore with intricately carved flora and fauna patterns and handcrafted by a master craftsman from Jaipur during an intimate dinner at the White House on Wednesday.

“This visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together,” the White House said on Wednesday as Prime Minister Modi arrived here from New York or his first state visit to this country.

“The visit will strengthen our two countries’ shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific and shared resolve to elevate the technology partnership, including in defence, clean energy, and space,” it said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden will have a one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday before holding high-level talks to further boost the growing Indo-US strategic relations in areas like defence, space, clean energy and critical technologies.

“This visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together,” the White House said on Wednesday.

Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar on Minnesota have said they will boycott Modi’s address to Congress.

US President Joe Biden and visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver remarks and take questions from journalists on Thursday during the Indian leader's state visit, an event a senior White House official called a "big deal"

It is unusual for Modi to take questions from the media, beyond occasional interviews. He has not addressed a single press conference in India since becoming prime minister about nine years ago. In May 2019 he attended a press conference but never took questions.

"The kinds of things that the two leaders will be discussing over the next couple of days are very future-focused, because this is going to be a defining partnership for the next 10-15 years atleast. In the next couple of days, we are going to be talking about defence cooperation, cyber, space, resilient supply chains, climate change...It's all about improving and deepening this bilateral relationship with India. It really is a forward-looking, future-focused discussion, says John Kirby, NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications.

You work to ensure that all Indians, especially girls have the opportunity to pursue education and gain the skills they need for a modern workforce. It is exciting to be able to show you some of the innovative programs our schools and businesses are creating for the students here: First Lady of the US, Jill Biden at the National Science Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia

Modi was received in the South Portico of the White House by Presiden Biden and the first lady. The two exchanged pleasantries and posed for photos. Before entering the White House, the prime minister, the president and the first lady had a short conversation.