PM Modi to meet President Trump, US visit expected to give further momentum to bilateral ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to arrive here late Wednesday beginning his twoday US visit during which he will hold a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump seeking to shore up bilateral cooperationModi on Wednesday left for the US from Marseille in France the secondleg of his twonation tour that began on February 10PM Modi who will hold a bilateral meeting with President Trump in both restricted and delegationlevel formats will be among the first few world leaders to visit the United States following Trumprsquos January 20 inaugurationA range of bilateral issues are expected to be on the table with foreign policywatchers indicating that some of the sensitive issues may also figure in the discussionsHowever there is no official word yet on the agenda to be taken up during Modis visitThe Prime Ministers visit comes nearly three weeks after the January 20 inauguration of Trump and amid tariff threats issued by the US leader in the recent pastThe United States will impose tariffs on the countries that ldquoharmrdquo America President Trump had told House Republicans at a Florida retreat late JanuaryIn his address he had described China as a ldquotremendous tariffmakerrdquo and then went on to also name India and Brazil in that categoryThe visit also comes days after a US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Punjabs Amritsar the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump administration as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrantsThe way a batch of Indians were deported from the US has caused a great deal of anxiety resentment and anger in India and New Delhi will have to ldquodelicatelyrdquo convey a message to Washington behind closed doors on this Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Monday in New DelhiThe MP from Thiruvananthapuram had made the remarks in response to a query at a book launch event the same day when Prime Minister Modi departed for FranceThe visit will provide a valuable opportunity to engage the new administration in all areas of mutual interest senior officials saidThe prime ministers visit to the US at the invitation of President Trump shows the ldquoimportance of IndiaUS partnership and is also reflective of the bipartisan support that this partnership enjoys in the USrdquo Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a briefing on February 7 in New DelhildquoAfter President Trumps inauguration the prime minister called to wish him and it was on that occasion they agreed to meet very soon and that is the promise and the commitment that is now unfoldingrdquo he said ldquoThere is an obvious convergence of interests between the two countries in a number of areas trade investment technology defence cooperation counterterrorism IndoPacific security and of course peopletopeople relationsrdquo the FS said in the briefingModi will also interact with business leaders and members of the Indian community in the USThe visit will also strengthen peopletopeople relations between the two countries he said adding ldquoThe 54 millionstrong Indian community in the US and the more than 350000 students from India who are pursuing studies in universities strengthen this bond immeasurablyrdquo ldquoWe expect a joint statement to be adopted at the end of the visitrdquo the foreign secretary saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever