Mumbai: US State Secretary Antony Blinken said the upcoming official state visit of PM Narendra Modi will be “historic” and it’ll solidify “the defining relationship of the 21st century”.
Blinken said he witnessed India’s “constructive” leadership toward building a free, open, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific. US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a state dinner for PM.
“We are here almost literally, on the eve of what we believe will be a historic state visit by Prime Minister Modi, one that will further solidify what President Biden has called the defining relationship of the 21st century,” Blinken said.
In addition, Blinken noted that he had seen India’s “constructive” leadership in fostering the development of an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, secure, and prosperous, where people, goods, and ideas can freely travel and the law is equally applied, as well as its dedication to fostering health security in collaboration with other Quad members.
“We see the importance of the partnership in a shared commitment to addressing regional and global challenges promoting health security, working with our Quad partners to build a free, open, secure, prosperous Indo-Pacific where people, goods, and ideas can travel freely and rules are applied fairly. I have witnessed India’s constructive leadership on these issues up close these last two and a half years, and I see it in their ambitious agenda at this year’s G20,” Blinken further added.
Meanwhile, Kirby said the White House looks forward to hosting the Prime Minister.
“We are very much looking forward to having Prime Minister Modi here. As you know, the United States has a significant defense partnership with India and terrific cooperation inside the Quad, across the Indo-Pacific with India. There’s a lot to talk about. We’re looking forward to the visit,” Kirby said.
Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the Indian ambassador to the US, added that there is a lot of “excitement” about PM Modi’s visit on “both sides” and that it is a source of great pride that he will be the “only Indian leader to address the US Congress twice.”
A week from now, Prime Minister Modi will make a historic state visit to the US at President Biden’s invitation. Both parties are quite excited. Only three Indian leaders in our independent history have received the honor of a State visit from the US President, including my PM.
Additionally, he’ll be the only Indian leader to deliver two speeches to the US Congress, according to Sandhu.
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