Modi to embark on 3-day US visit today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be leaving for his three-day visit to the United States on Wednesday to participate in Quad Leaders' Summit, address the high-level meeting of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and hold a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House.

The main elements of the programme are bilateral meetings with the US leadership, participation in the Quad Leaders' Summit, address at the UN General Assembly and business interactions.

Modi will be accompanied by a high-level delegation including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

During his visit, Modi and Biden will discuss the current regional security situation following the recent developments in Afghanistan in a bilateral meeting on September 24, said Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla, adding that the two leaders would discuss the need to 'stem radicalism, extremism, cross-border terrorism and dismantling of global terrorist network'.

This would be Modi's first in-person meeting with President Biden.

The two leaders are expected to discuss how the Comprehensive Strategic Global Partnership can be enriched further.

Other issues that are expected to be discussed include bolstering bilateral trade and investment ties, strengthening defence and security collaboration, boosting the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership, exploring new avenues and emerging technologies, including R&D, innovation and industry linkages.

They will also discuss the reform of the multilateral system including the UN Security Council.

On the same day, Biden will host the first-ever in-person Quad Leaders' Summit which will be joined by Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Quad is a partnership of four like-minded countries (India, US, Japan and Australia), in the pursuit of common interests in striving for a free open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

The four leaders will share views and perspectives on the regional situation and the emerging challenges including in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific region on how to work together to contain COVID-19, evolve a common approach to emerging technologies and a means of addressing climate change.

The leaders will take stock of progress made since the March summit, especially in the COVID-19 vaccine partnership. They will identify new areas of cooperation that will reinforce the positive and constructive agenda of the port, including contemporary areas that will benefit the Indo-Pacific region as a whole.

On September 25, Modi will address the UNGA at its 76th session.

The themes for this year's general debate are 'Building resilience through hope to recover from COVID-19', 'Rebuild sustainability', 'Respond to the needs of the planet', 'Respect the rights of people' and 'Revitalise the United Nations'.

While addressing the UN General Assembly, the prime minister will dwell upon important issues, including regional situation, cross border terrorism, global efforts to combat COVID-19 and climate change and the need to reform multilateral institutions.

The fourth element of the prime minister's visit would be bilateral meetings with his Australian and Japanese counterparts, Scott Morrison and Yoshihide Suga.

This will be the PM's first foreign visit beyond the neighbourhood since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He had made a brief visit to Bangladesh in March this year.

It is expected that the Prime Minister will highlight the importance of people to people ties between the two nations and the potential of enhancing these ties further, especially through higher education, linkages and mobility.

Earlier, India had appreciated the facilitation that has been provided by the United States in helping Indian students travel to the US for the beginning of their term.

The importance of smooth post-COVID travel especially for students is also an important factor and is expected to be discussed.

PM Modi's bilateral engagements will include a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris, his first formal interaction with the Vice President.

At their meeting, Modi and Harris are expected to exchange views on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Modi will have a few meetings with select CEOs of leading US companies.

The prime minister's visit with the compact programme will bolster India's key strategic bilateral partnership with the United States and close partners Australia and Japan.

It will also consolidate the Quad as a force for global good and will give the prime minister an opportunity to share his vision at the multilateral arena.