A Warm Welcome And An Opportunity Awaits Prime Minister Narendra Modi In U.S.

WASHINGTON: Shunned by the U.S. for nearly a decade, a triumphant Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi flies into New York to start what he himself has called "a new chapter in our strategic partnership."

Modi gets into Washington for his first meeting with President Barack Obama only on after an address to the UN general assembly Saturday and a rock star-like reception by the Indian-American community at Madison Garden in midtown Manhattan.

"The visit is a big moment for Mr. Modi, who offers himself as a metaphor for the India he wants to build - ambitious, confident and impatient with slackness of any kind," said the New York Times.

"Rarely has any world leader come full circle the way Mr. Modi has" noted the influential U.S. daily in a report from New Delhi titled "Defying Expectations in India, Modi Begins Key Trip to U.S.."

"Denied a United States visa for nearly a decade as punishment for his handling of religious riots that broke out in the state he then led, Mr. Modi flies into New York as an immensely popular leader and a sought-after strategic partner, viewed as uniquely capable of balancing the might of a rising China," it said.

Building bridges with Modi since his sweeping election victory, Obama invited him to visit Washington even before he was sworn in as Prime Minister.

And as Obama's honoured guest Modi will stay at the 190-year-old Blair House, the U.S. president's guesthouse, across the street from the White House. He will meet Obama for a private dinner Sep 29 before their formal summit the next day.

He will also meet top political leaders, including Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and other Congressional leaders.

Modi will be meeting the CEOs of several Fortune 500 companies as well.

READ MORE: 5 Surprising Things More Expensive Than India's Mission To Mars

10 Most War Torn Nations On Earth