US President Biden to host PM Narendra Modi for state visit in June

This is Modi’s first state visit to the US since he assumed office in 2014. His previous visits to the US to meet then Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump at the White House were not classified as state visits. The last official state visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the US was undertaken by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2009.

State visits are considered to be the highest expression of friendly bilateral relations and are replete with official public ceremonies. In the US, these ceremonies include a flight line ceremony (where the visiting head of state is greeted at the tarmac after landing), a 21-gun salute White House arrival ceremony, a White House dinner, exchange of diplomatic gifts, an invitation to stay at the Blair House (US President’s guesthouse across the Pennsylvania Avenue), and flag street-lining.

Modi, according to sources, will start his visit from New York, where he will lead the International Yoga Day celebrations — with the UN building as the backdrop — on June 21. From there, he will head to Washington DC for the state visit. He is also expected to address the Indian diaspora in Chicago.

A coordinated official announcement about the visit was made by the Ministry of External Affairs and the White House almost simultaneously on Wednesday.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on an official state visit to the United States of America, which will include a state dinner on June 22, 2023, following an invitation from President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden,” the MEA said.

It said the visit will “underscore the growing importance of the strategic partnership between India and the United States as the two nations collaborate across numerous sectors”.

“The leaders will have the opportunity to review strong bilateral cooperation in various areas of mutual interest, including technology, trade, industry, education, research, clean energy, defence, security, healthcare, and deepening people-to-people connections,” it said.

Modi and Biden “will also explore ways to strengthen India-US collaboration in pluri-lateral and multilateral fora, including in the G20. They would reflect on their shared vision for a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific and discuss opportunities to expand and consolidate the Quad engagement,” it said.

Stating that President Biden and the First Lady would host Modi for a state visit, the White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said: “The upcoming visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together.”

“The visit will strengthen our two countries’ shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific and our shared resolve to elevate our strategic technology partnership, including in defence, clean energy and space. The leaders will discuss ways to further expand our educational exchanges and people-to-people ties, as well as our work together to confront common challenges from climate change, to workforce development and health security,” the spokesperson said.

This visit is significant at a time when India has maintained a diplomatic tightrope walk on the Russia-Ukraine war, where it has chosen not to take sides explicitly, either with the US-led West or the Russian side.

However, China’s aggressive behaviour at the India-China border as well as the Indo-Pacific region has brought the two countries closer.

Modi is the third world leader to be invited for a state visit by Biden, following French President Emmanuel Macron late last year and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in April.