PM Modi to visit US on Feb 12-13, will meet Trump: Foreign Secretary

Before visiting the US, Modi will be in France from February 10-12 to co-chair the AI Action Summit with French President Emmanuel Macron, Misri said.

“This will be the first visit of Prime Minister Modi to the United States since the inauguration of the second presidential term of President Donald Trump,” he said.

“The fact that the Prime Minister has been invited to visit the US within barely three weeks of the new administration taking office shows the importance of the India-US partnership and is also reflective of the bipartisan support this partnership enjoys in the US,” he said.

The Foreign Secretary outlined key areas of focus during the visit – trade, investment, technology, defence cooperation and people-to-people ties.

Misri said there has been a very close rapport between Trump and Modi, dating back to the US leader’s first term.

“There is a clear convergence of interests between the two countries in several areas, including trade, investment,technology, defence cooperation, counterterrorism, Indo-Pacific security, and people-to-people relations,” he said.

“The 5.4 million-strong Indian community in the US and the more than 350,000 Indian students pursuing higher education in American universities further strengthen this bond,” he said.

“The Prime Minister’s visit to the United States will provide further direction and momentum to this important partnership. We expect a joint statement to be adopted at the end of the visit, which will be shared in due course,” he said.

Modi’s visit to the US is taking place amid concern in India over the manner in which 104 illegal Indian immigrants were deported this week.

Asked whether a formal protest had been lodged by New Delhi on the issue of deportation of illegal Indian immigrants who were flown home in handcuffs and shackles, Misri said, “Yes, we have been in touch with US authorities on this issue on a continuing basis, and we have registered our concern with them on this matter… That is perhaps, you know, this kind of treatment can perhaps be avoided.”

“It’s a valid issue to raise, and we continue to emphasise to US authorities… This is a continuing exercise and conversation, and we will continue to take up any instances of mistreatment that come to our attention.”

To another query if any protest had been lodged in 2012 when the practice of handcuffs and shackles was introduced, he said, “I don’t think there was any protest. We don’t have any record of any protest being made about it.”

On Thursday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that the practice began in 2012.

Misri said, “This particular deportation that happened the day before yesterday was somewhat different as compared to the earlier ones that have taken place for many, many years as you would be aware of. This was slightly different in nature because in the US system itself, it was described as a ‘national security operation’. And, that is perhaps one of the reasons why a military aircraft was used.”

He said the “real cancer” is the “ecosystem” of people who dupe innocent people into illegal immigration, and action should be taken against them.

“Gangs deceive innocent people and take huge sums of money from them and take them abroad, but they have to return like this. Action is needed against such people, and the External Affairs Minister also drew attention to this. The government will have to work on this further,” he said.

He said there are various numbers about the illegal immigrants who are to be deported, and gave an account of about 800 such Indians – 487 presumed Indian citizens and another 298 who are in the final stages of verification.

“India is working to verify the status of 298 presumed Indian citizens with final removal orders,” he said.

“It is hard to give an exact number because we can’t call anybody as confirmed Indian nationals until we verify,” he said.

On the issue of verification, he said, “Any country in the world, if it is going to accept its nationals back, will want to have the assurance that whosoever is coming back is a bona fide citizen of that country. There are issues of legality and security associated with it. Therefore, we have been in close communication with the US on this matter. As soon as information is provided to us, we do due diligence and then action follows.”