PM Narendra Modi departs for three-day visit to United States

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked on a three-day visit to the United States on Wednesday where he will address the UN General Assembly and attend the Quad Summit as well as hold a bilateral meet with US President Joe Biden at the White House.

Biden will host PM Modi at the White House on September 24, this is going to be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders after Biden took over as the US President on January 20.

As per the statement issued by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, PM Modi and President Biden are expected to discuss ways to stem radicalisation and combat terrorism. They are also expected to discuss ways to bolster defence, trade ties, security collaborations and clean energy partnership among others."

PM Modi and Biden will discuss the current regional security situation following the recent developments in Afghanistan. PM Modi will also hold business interactions during his US visit from September 22-25.

Prime Minister Modi will attend the first in-person summit of the Quad hosted by the US President on Friday, which will be attended by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan and Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia.

PM Modi will address the General Debate of the High-Level Segment of 76th Session of UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 25 in New York.

The theme for this year's general debate is building resilience through hope to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainability, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people and revitalise the United Nations.

While addressing the UN General Assembly, the Prime Minister will dwell on the important issues, including the regional situation, cross border terrorism, global efforts to combat COVID-19 and climate change and the need to reform multilateral institutions.

Another element of the Prime Minister's visit would be bilateral meetings with our close partners Japan and Australia where he will hold several bilateral meetings including with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

PM Modi is accompanied by a high-level delegation consisting of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and senior officials including Shringla. This is Prime Minister Modi's first visit abroad beyond the neighbourhood since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.