New Delhi: Two summits, a roundtable with CEOs of technology companies, a diaspora event in Long Island and the signing of at least two agreements—one for pharmaceuticals and a second on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)—are a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day trip to the US from 21 September to 23 September.
The Prime Minister will leave for the US in the early hours of Saturday, and head straight to President Joe Biden’s Delaware home for the Quad Leaders’ Summit the same day.
The Leaders’ Summit was to be held by India in 2024, but New Delhi pushed it to 2025 at the request of the US, allowing Biden to host Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian premier Anthony Albanese one last time.
The four leaders are expected to cover a wide range of topics in that half day, including the situation in Gaza as well as the Russia-Ukraine war, and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Bilateral meetings with all three leaders are also expected to be a part of Modi’s itinerary, said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri at a press briefing Thursday.
Misri refused to comment on whether India would present its peace proposal for the Russia-Ukraine war, but highlighted that the Indian leadership had been in contact with the two countries, and that Modi had spoken to Biden following his visit to Kyiv in August.
The fourth in-person Quad Summit (and the sixth overall) will be a farewell to both President Biden and PM Kishida. Biden is not standing for a second term, and will end his current term in January 2025, while Kishida has said he will resign by the end of September.
On the sidelines of the Quad Leaders’ Summit will also be the launch of a collaboration in cancer care—the Cancer Moonshot—with plans to expand screenings for cervical cancer across the Indo-Pacific, Misri said.
Biden’s eldest son Beau passed away in 2015 from cancer, and the Cancer Moonshot is an effort by the US President and First Lady Jill Biden to prevent around four million cancer deaths in the US by 2047.
Modi is unlikely to run into Donald Trump during this visit. Though the former president had said at an election event that a meeting would take place, he did not specify dates. Trump’s campaign schedule shows he will be in Pennsylvania and North Carolina during those three days.
US Vice-President Kamala Harris is also on the campaign trail.
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Modi-Biden bilateral meeting
A bilateral drug framework between India and the US is expected to be signed during the meeting between Modi and Biden. India will also be depositing its instruments of ratification for the clean economy and fair economy pillars of the IPEF, along with its ratification of the overarching agreement covering the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity.
The IPEF, launched in 2022, is a 14 country initiative that consists of four pillars—trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy. India has already ratified the supply chain pillar. New Delhi is not a part of the negotiations on trade.
The bilateral meeting will also see the two leaders “have a substantive engagement” to review the “Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership” between India and the US, Misri added. Defence, maritime security and space are expected to figure in their talks.
India’s burgeoning defence partnership with the US received a boost in August, when the two countries signed two key agreements—the Security of Supplies Agreement (SOSA) and a Memorandum of Understanding on the Assignment of Liaison Officers.
The SOSA, while not a legally-binding agreement, allows the two countries to provide reciprocal support for goods and services that promote national defence.
The foreign secretary did not state whether any further agreements were to be signed in this sector, emphasising that these “issues are under discussion” and it was difficult to say at this time whether they had “reached a level” where an agreement could be announced.
Tech roundtable & Summit of the Future
On 22 September, Modi will meet the Indian community at an event in Long Island, New York, which is being organised locally.
Modi will also host a roundtable with CEOs from large technology companies, especially in areas of artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing and bio-technology. Leaders of some of the US’ largest technology companies are expected to be present, though the foreign secretary did not share further details.
The PM’s visit to the US wraps up with his address to the United Nations Summit of the Future on 23 September. Modi will outline India’s priority, namely inclusive and equitable sustainable development, South-South cooperation and the issues facing the Global South.
Misri said many challenges raised during the third Voice of Global South summit in India may find mention during the Summit of the Future.
The two-day summit is an attempt by the UN to bring together world leaders to create a new global consensus on issues of the present and challenges of the future. Multiple bilateral meetings between Modi and other country heads are expected in New York. The foreign secretary emphasised there were still “too many moving parts” to announce the final list of the bilateral meetings.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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