Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to visit US before G-20 summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit Washington DC before hosting the United States President Joe Biden for the G-20 summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10.

Biden has extended an invitation to Modi for a state visit to the United States. The Prime Minister has accepted the invitation from the US president. The two sides are now looking for mutually convenient dates. A source in New Delhi said that the visit of the Prime Minister might take place in June or July – well before the US president, himself, and other world leaders would land in the national capital to attend the 18th G-20 summit.

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The visit is going to be significant and the two sides will seek to iron out the wrinkles in the bilateral ties, which came under a bit of stress over India’s refusal to join the US and the other western nations in criticizing Russia for its “special military operations” in Ukraine.

Modi had visited Washington DC several times after taking over as the Prime Minister of India. But most of his visits had either been official or on the sideline of multilateral or plurilateral summits.

If Modi travels to Washington DC on an invitation from Biden, it is going to be his first state visit to the US. It is also going to be his second visit to the US after Biden succeeded Donald Trump.

Biden hosted Modi and the leaders of the other partners of the Quad – Japan and Australia – for a summit of the four-nation bloc in the White House in September 2021. The Prime Minister had brief bilateral meetings with the US president on the sideline of the summit. He also had a meeting with the US Vice President Kamala Harris.

Modi and Biden, however, have spoken to each other over phone several times and have met on the sidelines of other conclaves, the latest being the 17th G20 summit at Bali in Indonesia.

Modi’s National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, is currently on a tour to Washington DC for talks with his counterpart, Jake Sullivan, on bilateral cooperation in critical and emerging technologies. They also discussed the deliverables for the series of the proposed high-level engagements between India and the US during the current year, including Modi’s visit to Washington DC and Biden’s visit to New Delhi, the source told DH.

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Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra hosted the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland for the Foreign Office Consultations in New Delhi on Tuesday. The two sides reviewed progress made towards further consolidating the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, according to a press-release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. “Discussions also covered contemporary regional developments in South Asia, Indian Ocean Region and the Indo-Pacific. The two sides reiterated their commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, with the objective of ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in the region.”

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will host his counterpart, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, early next month. Blinken will visit New Delhi to attend the meeting of the G20 Foreign Ministers to be hosted by Jaishankar. They will however hold bilateral meetings on the sideline of the conclave and discuss Modi’s visit to Washington DC and Biden’s to New Delhi.