PM Modi’s state visit to the US will give clear trajectory to the expanding Indo-US bilateral ties

Modi and Biden have met a number of times since the latter became President of the US in January 2021

Nine years after he became Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has been invited for the first to come to the United States on an official state visit by American President Joe Biden.

His four-day state visit to the US will be from June 21 to 24.

Modi has been to the US on a number of occasions since he became Prime Minister in 2014, but never on a state visit ― the highest-ranked visit in diplomatic protocol.

His predecessor Manmohan Singh had gone on a state visit to the US from November 23 to 25 in 2009 when Barack Obama was the American President.

A state visit involves a host of elaborate ceremonies.

It includes a ‘flight line’ ceremony where the visiting leader is received at the airport tarmac, and later welcomed with a 21-gun salute at the White House.

The President hosts a dinner at the White House in honour of the visiting dignitary and he is also invited to address the US Congress (parliament).

In addition, the honoured guest is also invited to stay at the American President’s guesthouse called the Blair House.

Modi and Biden have met a number of times since the latter became President of the US in January 2021.

But before the Indian Prime Minister travels to the US, he will meet Biden two more times this month — at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan’s Hiroshima, and subsequently, for the Quad summit in Australia’s Melbourne.

The two leaders will meet once again this year when the American President visits Delhi for the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in September 2023 under India’s presidency.

President Biden had been hosting a number of leaders since the beginning of this year on state visits.

This includes Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and the Philippines President Bongbong Marcos in recent months.

Much of the close engagement with its Asian allies has been to reassure them to deal with China's assertion in the South and East China Seas.

Most strategic thinkers agree that currently, the most substantive foreign relation for India is with the US.

The two countries have widened and strengthened their partnership in a number of areas ranging from defence and security to trade and investment to culture and science and technology to space and hi-tech.

Their frequent exchanges at various levels have also constantly urged them to look at newer areas of cooperation and further widen the basket of their partnership.

Senior US officials have often said that Biden believes the partnership between India and the United States, which are the world’s leading knowledge economies, is essential to address major global challenges.

PTI quoted a US official as saying, “President Biden views that as two of the world's leading knowledge economies, this partnership is essential.”

The official said, “He believes that no successful and enduring effort to address any of the major challenges that the world faces today, whether food or energy or health security, the climate crisis, or upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific, (will) work without a US-India partnership at its heart.”

Modi, on his part, had described the Indo-US relationship as a partnership of trust and a force for good global peace and stability.

India and the US recently launched the India-US initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET), which is being described as the “Next big thing” in the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

The US is currently ― in the financial year 2023 ― India’s top trading partner, with bilateral trade of $128.55 billion.

The upswing in Indo-US relations had begun in the wake of the May 1998 nuclear tests of India and by the visit of President Bill Clinton in 2000, who became the first American President to visit the country after 22 years.

Since Clinton's visit, all subsequent US Presidents, both Republicans and Democrats, have visited India. They include George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Biden is yet to visit India.

The strong partnership between the US and India has often baffled observers, as India, unlike most American allies, has held different views from Washington on many crucial issues.

India is the only member of the Quad, which also has Australia, Japan and the US as members, that has refused to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

It has also maintained its strategic autonomy by continuing to engage with Russia on a number of areas, ranging from defence to energy and other areas of mutual interest, much to the disappointment of the US-led Western bloc.

Though China’s growing aggressive policies in the Indo-Pacific has brought the US and India closer, unlike others, India has not joined an American-led military alliance in the region.

However, as the Biden Administration continues to reassert itself in Asia to counter China’s growing economic and military clout, it remains to be seen how Indo-US relations develop in the coming months.

Modi’s forthcoming state visit to the US will certainly give a clear trajectory to the growing bilateral ties between the two countries.