Modi arrives in New York for US state visit to ‘reinforce ties’

New York, June 20 (VOICE) Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the JFK Airport on Tuesday for a state visit to the US that he said will “reinforce our ties”.

Before leaving for the US, Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi said, “I am confident that my visit to the US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges.”

International Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations on Wednesday will be the highlight of his brief stay in the city.

UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi and Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed will join him at the yoga event along with hundreds of diplomats from around the world and UN officials.

Afterwards, he will leave for Washington where a private meeting is scheduled with President Joe Biden ahead of the next day’s ceremonial start to the state visit at the White House with a 21-gun salute.

He is scheduled to speak to a joint session of Congress and be honoured at a State Dinner hosted by President Joe Biden.

In the city on Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to meet thought leaders and business magnates.

The list includes Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter and the founder of Tesla; Nobel Prize winners molecular biologist Peter Agre and economist Paul Romer; astrophysicist Neal deGrasse Tyson; author and theorist Nicholas Nassim Taleb; investor Ray Dialo, and Chandrika Tandon, a patron of the arts and education and the sister of former Pepsi Chair Indra Nooyi.

He is also to meet Grammy award winner Falguni Shah, the singer better known as Falu Shah.

In his statement previewing the visit, Prime Minister Modi said, “India-US ties are multifaceted, with deepening engagements across sectors.”

The US is India’s largest trading partner and the two countries collaborate closely in science and technology, education, health, defence and security fields, space and artificial intelligence, he said.

“Our two countries are also collaborating to further our shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific,” he added.

He said, “My discussions with President Biden and other senior US leaders will provide an opportunity to consolidate our bilateral cooperation as well as in plurilateral forums such as G20 (group of industrialised and emerging economies), Quad (the Indo-Pacific-oriented group of India, the US, Japan and Australia) and IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Forum).”

Modi’s visit will reaffirm strength of Indo-US strategic partnership: USISPF

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit sends a strong message that the relationship between India and the US is critical and pivotal and the most defining partnership of the 21st century, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) said on Tuesday.

“This historic and important state visit sends a strong message that the US-India relationship is critical and pivotal and the most defining partnership of the 21st century,” USISPF President and CEO, Mukesh Aghi said.

“Prime Minister Modi’s state visit will reaffirm, the strength of the strategic partnership and cement our relations in defence, energy, healthcare, technology, and education. This relationship is best epitomised by the concept that these are two democracies, sharing a common vision,” Aghi said in a statement.

Prime Minister Modi is visiting the US from Wednesday to Saturday at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

The visit includes a state dinner as well as an address to the joint session of Congress on Thursday.

Welcoming Prime Minister Modi USISPF Chairman and Chairman Emeritus of Cisco, John Chambers, said: “It is an honour to have Prime Minister Modi back in the US. He has been a role model for many of us around the world with Digital India and how he brings those benefits to every citizen across the country.

“Prime Minister Modi is able to build relationships with various stakeholders in the United States and focuses on the win-win aspect. Prime Minister Modi has the ability to inspire hope and translate hope into vision and vision into results and those benefits are well evinced.”

Before flying to the US for a landmark state visit, Prime Minister Modi said India is in the process of gaining its rightful position in the world.

“We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world,” the Prime Minister said in an interview to The Wall Street Journal.

“There is an unprecedented trust between the leaders of the US and India,” Modi said.

Modi’s visit will commence in New York where he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the UN headquarters on Wednesday.

He will be the third Indian leader to make a state visit to the US with the previous two visits by former president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in June 1963 and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2009.

Thrilled to witness Modi’s historic visit to US: Former UN Environment head

Ahead of a substantive state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US, former UN Environment Programme executive director Erik Solheim on Tuesday said he was thrilled to witness the historic visit.

“The strong bond between India and the US serves as a cornerstone for global partnerships, fostering economic growth, innovation, and cultural exchanges,” tweeted Solheim, who previously said the West has a lot to learn from economic policies and green commitment of Modi, who systematically uses the state as an economic tool, much like South Korea did with thundering success a few decades ago.

On Tuesday, Modi left for the US where he will attend programmes in New York City and Washington DC. The programmes include Yoga Day celebrations at the UN headquarters, talks with President Joe Biden, address to the Joint Session of the US Congress and more, says the Prime Minister’s Office.

Ahead of Modi’s state visit to the US, the UN dedicated a solidarity tree honouring the victims of Mumbai terror attack.

Since coming to power in 2014, Modi has visited the US on multiple occasions to deepen bilateral ties.

Previously Solheim, in a full-page op-ed, titled ‘Why India is the nation to follow in 2023’, published in Dagens Naeringsliv, a Norwegian newspaper specialising in business news in March, explains why Modi is the most popular politician in his own country. And how western media is failing by giving a negative view of India and Modi.

Solheim, who from 2007 to 2012 held the combined portfolio of Norway’s Minister of the Environment and International Development and from 2005 to 2007 served as Minister of International Development, believes Modi’s popularity is due to the fact that he both creates and shares.

“A digital economy where the poor for the first time have real bank access through their cell phones making direct cash transfers possible. The amounts are not big, but if you are very poor, a few hundred or thousand rupees means a lot. All hands went up when I visited Bhargawan village in Madhya Pradesh and asked if the tribal villagers had benefitted from the prime minister’s direct cash transfer scheme.”

He said European political leaders can learn a lot from how Modi composes an appealing national story that workers, farmers, all those who do not feel they have received enough respect from the elite, feel at home.

Explaining why India is the country to follow in 2023, the former Norwegian diplomat and politician, who played a crucial role in convincing India to phase out single-use plastics, said the progress is impressive.

According to Solheim, India is expected to compete with the US to be the world’s second largest economy in 2050.

“We would do well to look to India in the years ahead,” he added.