Pathbreaking, exceptional and historic — PM Modi concludes US visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up early Saturday his highly-successful official state visit of the United States – labeled as “pathbreaking” and “exceptional” by several analysts – which included dozens of bilateral meetings, agreements to strengthen the partnership between the two nations and a historic address the joint session of US Congress.

“Concluding a very special USA visit, where I got to take part in numerous programmes and interactions aimed at adding momentum to the India-USA friendship. Our nations will keep working together to make our planet a better place for the coming generations,” tweeted PM Modi before he emplaned for Egypt.

Prime Minister Modi arrived in New York City on Tuesday and straightaway held interactions with several thought leaders, think tank experts and business magnate Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and chairman of Twitter.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister led the 9th annual International Day of Yoga celebrations at the iconic North Lawn of the UN Headquarters in New York.

PM Modi was accorded a ceremonial welcome and guard of honour as he set foot at the Joint Base Andrews airport in Washington DC on Thursday.

“Deeply touched by the warm and gracious welcome at the White House. Looking forward to fostering even deeper ties and mutual cooperation in the times to come,” he tweeted.

After joining US First Lady Jill Biden at an event related to skill development, PM Modi held productive meetings with CEOs of Micron, General Electric – which subsequently announced a landmark agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to produce fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force – and Applied Materials.

Also Read: How key deals signed during PM Modi’s visit can turn India into semiconductor superpower

He was then welcomed by US President Joe Biden and First Lady for a private engagement at the White House. Thousands of India-American community members also accorded a rousing welcome to PM Modi at the White House.

In his speech delivered after the ceremonial welcome, PM Modi said that the India and the US are committed to working together for the global good and peace, stability and prosperity as the world order is taking a new shape in the post-Covid era.

Both leaders had a one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office before holding bilateral discussions in expanded format. The agenda covered a broad range of areas of bilateral cooperation including, trade and investment, defence and security – including India’s plan to procure MQ-9B Reaper drones from the US – science and technology, energy, climate action, education, health and people-to-people ties between the two countries.

Early Friday, India time, PM Modi arrived at the Capitol Hill to address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress where he outlined the enormous progress made by India and the opportunities that it presents for the world. He also spoke about the rapid strides made in India-US bilateral relations and shared his vision for elevating bilateral ties.

“I think what we saw at the Congress today is unlike anything that we may have seen in some time, but all in all, a truly special visit, exceptional visit, and which we hope, which we are confident that would build on to this relationship and take it to higher reaches further,” said Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra.

Also Read: US lawmakers hail PM Modi’s address to joint session of Congress, vouch for India-US friendship

PM Modi’s landmark visit was also widely covered in the US media.

On Thursday, PM Modi and Joe Biden also addressed a gathering of Indian and American CEOs of leading tech companies at a special event in the White House. The CEOs discussed the enormous opportunities and ways to deepen institutional cooperation in cutting-edge tech and R&D between both nations with the PM underlining the immense potential of harnessing India-US tech cooperation for socio-economic growth.

Also Read: Why GE-HAL jet engine deal will add wings to Indian aviation industry

Prime Minister Narendra Modi then attended a luncheon at the US Department of State hosted by US Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Discussions focused on further reinforcing the longstanding friendship and cooperation.

PM Modi held another set of discussions with heads of leading US companies, including Boeing, Google, Amazon before attending an engagement with the Indian diaspora in Washington.

PM Modi then emplaned for Egypt which would be his first visit to the country since assuming office more than nine years ago.

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti described PM Modi’s visit as “extraordinary” where significant progress was made between the two nations, surpassing the achievements of any previous visit in history.

“I feel that AI is the future- America and India. We had more things that we got done than any other visit in history. This was an exceptional visit. We are now in the deepest and the broadest friendship of our entire history,” Garcetti told ANI.

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