BackModi’s US visit to signal India’s commitment to multilateralism
The 26-30 September visit, which will see Modi participate in as many as 35 events, is the Prime Minister's first to the US
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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five-day visit to the US for the annual UN General Assembly session and meetings with President Barack Obama starting this week will signal India’s commitment to multilateralism while aiming to build on areas of convergence with the US, the government’s spokesman said on Tuesday.
The 26-30 September visit, which will see Modi participate in as many as 35 events, is the prime minister’s first to the US and follows a 10-year boycott of Modi by successive US administrations alleging he turned a blind eye to the 2002 Gujarat sectarian riots when he was chief minister of the state. The riots led to more than 1,000 deaths, mainly Muslims.
When asked about the still strong views held by some sections of the US about Modi’s human rights record, foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said Modi was “forward looking" in his approach. The visit will yield “substantive outcomes", he told reporters in New Delhi.
The reset in India-US ties, that turned tense over the detention of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York in December 2013 on charges of visa fraud and underpaying her babysitter, began with a congratulatory telephone call and an invitation to visit Washington from Obama on 16 May, when Modi’s elevation as Prime Minister became apparent.
US secretary of state John Kerry followed it up with a telephone call to foreign minister Sushma Swaraj on 29 May. The decision to mend the ties was taken at the highest levels and almost immediately after the new government took office on 26 May, foreign ministry officials said, requesting anonymity.
Modi’s political engagements include meetings with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Obama, vice-president Joe Biden, Kerry and secretary of defence Chuck Hagel. He will also meet with John Boehner, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, mayor of New York Bill de Blasio, former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, the governor of New York Andrew Cuomo, the Indian origin governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley and the governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley.
On the trade and commerce front, Modi will meet with top executives of Boeing Co., BlackRock Inc., International Business Machines Corp., General Electric Co., Goldman Sachs and KKR and Co. Lp in one-to-one interactions, besides top executives of Google Inc., Carlyle group, Cargill Inc., Citigroup Inc., Merck & Co., Warburg Pincus Llc and PepsiCo Inc. and some others at a breakfast meeting on 29 September.
Trade and investment, energy, science and technology, defence and maritime security are the priority areas for India during the bilateral leg of the US visit. However, a bilateral trade and investment agreement (BTIA) with the US is not expected to be signed on this trip because India is still formulating a template that ring-fences New Delhi from being dragged into commercial disputes, said K. Nandini Singla, director in charge of the Americas division in the ministry of external affairs. Neither are the two sides expected to sign the totalization pact on social security benefits that has been in discussion for many years, she said.
One of Modi’s first engagements will be to pay tributes at the site of the 2001 terror attacks in New York on Saturday before proceeding to the UN General Assembly for his speech to its 69th session. Signalling India’s continuing strong engagement with the multilateral forum, Modi’s speech is expected to focus both on India’s socioeconomic development programmes and its candidature for a permanent seat in a revamped UN Security Council, Akbaruddin said.
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Modi will meet with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed and Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Akbaruddin said. However, there are “no plans" for Modi to meet Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the margins of the UN General Assembly session.
While in the US, Modi will also meet with members of the Indian community as well as members of the American Jewish community, Akbaruddin added.
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