As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit US later this month, the visit is regarded more as an effort to build and strengthen chemistry with US and an opportunity for India to show how it’s contributing to the US economy.
The meeting of Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump in Washington, will focus on maintaining the counter terror partnership and expand defence ties between the nations.
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters at her daily news conference on Friday that US is looking forward to host Narendra Modi in Washington later this month. Though the dates have not been finalised yet, but the meeting is expected to be scheduled between June 25 and June 27.
People familiar with Indo-US ties indicated to ET that, the two leaders will also discuss issues regarding the fight against cross-border terror with special emphasis on the Afghan-Pakistan region, the growing network of terror groups and the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.
Expanding the defence partnership with a focus on joint production under the US-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) will be another key item on the agenda for the PM’s trip to the US. The US has also put some significant items on the DTTI agenda such as infantry combat vehicles, futuristic helicopters and intelligence surveillance reconnaissance capacity. The situation in West Asia and the Asia-Pacific will also be touched upon.
This will be Modi’s first trip to the US since the Trump administration took over.