New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the US Wednesday on what many expect will be a historical visit that may result in a myriad of deals and announcements between the two countries in areas of defence, critical and emerging technologies, visas and more.
As Prime Minister of India, this will be Modi’s eighth visit to the US – a country which in 2005 denied him a diplomatic visa and revoked his existing tourist/business visa citing “severe violations of religious freedom” over his alleged failure to control communal riots in 2002 as then chief minister of Gujarat.
ThePrint takes a look at Modi’s past seven visits to America.
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Sept 2014: Maiden visit, Madison Square Garden
From 29-30 September 2014, Modi — who was now eligible for a diplomatic visa as prime minister — made his maiden visit to the US, following a nine-year visa ban on him.
During the visit, he interacted with then president Barack Obama, attended an unconventional state dinner and told Indian-Americans at a star-studded event in New York that Mahatma Gandhi too was an “NRI”.
On 30 September, Obama and Modi issued a joint statement to the press.
“I think that the entire world has watched the historic election and mandate that the people of India delivered in the recent election,” said Obama, referring to the BJP’s victory in the 2014 general election.
Modi, who read out his remarks in Hindi from cue cards, remarked that the US and India are natural partners and must “revive the momentum” in their bilateral relationship.
The night prior, the two leaders attended a state dinner during which PM Modi sipped on warm water while others ate, as he was observing a Navratri fast. Newspapers around the world had dissected this moment to speculate whether it was a planning error on the part of the Obama administration.
On the last leg of his visit, Modi spoke at an event attended by over 19,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York. Actor Hugh Jackman introduced Modi as one who went from a “tea salesman” to CM of Gujarat.
Modi later addressed the UN General Assembly where he called for reforms in the multilateral body, measures to combat climate change and other issues.
Sept 2015: Meeting with tech leaders
From 24-27 September, PM Modi returned to the US as part of a trans-Atlantic trip that included a maiden visit to Ireland. He visited big tech leaders in Silicon Valley, days after Chinese President Xi Jinping had done the same.
Towards the end of the visit, Modi also held a roundtable meeting with top American CEOs.
Reports indicated that during a town hall meeting with its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg at the Facebook (now Meta) headquarters, the prime minister turned emotional while speaking about his mother.
At the Google headquarters, PM Modi met Indian-born chief executive Sundar Pichai after which an announcement was made to bring wireless internet to 500 Indian railway stations.
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March-April 2016: Address to US Congress, Nuclear Security Summit
PM Modi’s visit to the US in early 2016 was significant for two reasons – he addressed a joint session of the US Congress and attended the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC.
During his address to the US Congress, PM Modi remarked that there was a shift in the bilateral relationship. “Today, our relationship has overcome the hesitations of history,” he said.
This was reflected in Modi’s participation at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC. The summit, the brainchild of Obama, brought together roughly 50 world leaders to share their assessment of the threat from nuclear weapons. The summit in 2016 was the first and last of its kind.
During the event, Modi announced measures in the area of non-proliferation, countering nuclear smuggling and deployment of technology to deter nuclear terrorism. He also pledged $1 million to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which was viewed as a major step for a country whose relations with the West had often been shadowed by the nuclear question.
He had then also offered to host a Summit on Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism in 2018, which never came to fruition.
June 2016: Working lunch with Obama, Paris Agreement
In June 2016, PM Modi made his second visit to the US in the same year, mainly to attend a “working lunch” with Obama. This was during Obama’s last few months in office before Donald Trump would win the presidential election later that year.
Discussions during the working lunch mainly touched upon climate change and clean energy partnership, security and defence cooperation.
In a joint statement, the two leaders also pulled up Pakistan for its failure to bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai and 2016 Pathankot terrorist attacks to justice.
But the main takeaway was Modi’s announcement that India intends to formally join the Paris Climate Accords by the end of 2016. Later in September, Modi’s cabinet would give its nod to ratify the Paris Agreement.
June 2017: Bear hug with Trump, meeting tech CEOs
In June 2017, PM Modi became the first world leader to attend a White House dinner with Trump after the latter took office as US President. At the time, the Trump administration’s policies appeared to differ from India’s in areas of climate change, intellectual property rights and the H-1B visa programme.
However, it was during this visit that the two leaders began their bonhomie that would eventually culminate into the ‘Howdy, Modi!’ event in Houston in 2019. One of the most popular pictures during Modi’s 2016 visit was his “bear hug” with Trump which Western media viewed as a welcome change from Trump’s “awkward” handshake with other world leaders.
Modi also held an “official working lunch” with Trump during which they discussed trade issues, visas and other areas of interest. He later met CEOs of Microsoft, Apple Inc and Google.
A Politico report later revealed that when Trump discovered Modi would be visiting the US without a spouse, he joked that he could play matchmaker for the Indian prime minister.
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Sept 2019: ‘Howdy, Modi!’, UN Climate Action Summit
In September 2019, Modi arrived in the US for the widely-anticipated ‘Howdy, Modi!’ event in Houston, Texas on 22 September which was attended by about 50,000 people of Indian origin from across the US.
It would later be followed by the “Namaste Trump” event in Ahmedabad the following year.
The event was rare in that foreign leaders rarely hold a large rally with their diaspora during trips abroad. That said, the rally was widely attended and kicked off with Modi and Trump walking hand in hand up to the stage.
Some experts remarked that it reflected efforts to “solidify” the India-US partnership.
After Houston, Modi attended the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, was conferred the ‘Global Goalkeeper Award’ for the Swachh Bharat Mission by the Gates Foundation and attended the Bloomberg Global Business Forum where he invited companies to invest in India.
Sept 2021: Quad meet, UN Covid Summit
PM Modi’s seventh visit to the US entailed attending the first in-person Quad meeting with his counterparts from the US, Japan and Australia. It was also his first meeting with US President Joe Biden since the latter assumed office.
During the visit, PM Modi also addressed the UN General Assembly for the first time since the outbreak of Covid-19 and at a time when the world had only begun recovering from the pandemic.
He also met US Vice President Kamala Harris for the first time in person; the two had only communicated via phone calls prior to that.
Modi’s visit concluded with meetings with CEOs of semiconductor makers, IT and renewable energy firms and arms makers.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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