PM Narendra Modi lands in US to take part in First in-person Quad leaders' Summit


PM Narendra Modi lands in US to take part in First in-person Quad leaders' Summit

PM Narendra Modi landed in Washington for an official visit to the US during which he would hold the first face-to-face meeting with President Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris, attend the first in-person Quad summit and address the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Modi, is visiting the US for the 7th time after take charge in 2014, also announced his visit would be an occasion to reinforce the Indo-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and consolidate ties with Japan and Australia.

In his tweet, Modi states, "Landed in Washington DC. Over the next two days, will be meeting @POTUS @JoeBiden and @VP @KamalaHarris, Prime Ministers @ScottMorrisonMP and @sugawitter. Will attend the Quad meeting and would also interact with leading CEOs to highlight economic opportunities in India."

At the airport, Modi was warmly welcomed by senior officials of the Biden Administration and India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

Arindam Bagchi, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson tweets, "Namaste USA! PM @narendramodi was greeted on arrival by Shri Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Ambassador of India to USA and Mr. T. H. Brian McKeon, US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources,"

“Exuberant members of the Indian diaspora welcoming PM @narendramodi upon landing in Washington D.C," Bagchi tweeted along with pictures of Modi interacting with Indian-Americans.Prime Minister Modi has a packed agenda over the next three days.President Biden will host Modi at the White House for their first bilateral meeting on September 24.

Later on that day, Biden would host the first-ever in-person Quad Leaders' Summit with Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.Both Biden and Prime Minister Modi have addressed  virtually on multiple occasions after the former, a Democrat, became US president in January. The last telephone discussion between them took place on April 26.Untitled-17AgenciesVice President Harris will meet Prime Minister Modi on September 23. This would be the first meeting between the two leaders.

 “During my visit, I will review the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with President Biden and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest," Modi said just before leaving for the US."I am also looking forward to meeting Vice President Kamala Harris to explore opportunities for cooperation between our two nations particularly in the area of science and technology," said Modi, who is visiting the US at the invitation of President Biden.

Modi states he would participate in the first in-person Quad Leaders' Summit. The Summit provides an opportunity to take stock of the outcomes of the Quad leaders' Virtual Summit in March this year and identify priorities for future engagements based on our shared vision for the Indo-Pacific region, he said. PM Modi would also hold bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Morrison and Prime Minister Suga and take stock of the strong bilateral relations.

In his departure statement, Modi states, "My visit to the US would be an occasion to strengthen the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with the USA, consolidate relations with our strategic partners - Japan and Australia - and to take forward our collaboration on important global issues.”

These include Cristiano E Amon from Qualcomm, Mark Widmar from First Solar, Vivek Lall from General Atomics, Shantanu Narayen from Adobe, and  Stephen A Schwarzman from Blackstone. All of Prime Minister Modi's previous visits had his signature massive meetings with the Indian American community in particular the one at the Madison Square Garden in 2015, and thereafter in the Silicon Valley and the last one was Houston in 2019. nonetheless, because of COVID-19 restrictions, no large event for the prime minister is being planned.