Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the US in a week at their invitation. Joe Biden is the vice president and Jill Biden is the first lady of the US. All eyes are now focused on the upcoming phase of bilateral ties between the two nations and the message that Washington will send. The “next level of the partnership will be visible” during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s planned state visit to the US, according to Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Wednesday (local time).
“You’ll see how various interactions reflect personal chemistry. In reality, this could be the most extensive meeting between Prime Minister Modi and the US President. As cabinet members and senior officials are looking into the nuts and bolts of the state visit’s “outcomes” and are making sure New Delhi and Washington are moving in the right direction, Sandhu highlighted the significance of India-US partnership in the global context in various spheres such as trade, defence and strategic cooperation, technology, higher education and clean energy.
“The underlying aspect is going to be much more strategic understanding,” Sandhu asserted.
Experts stress on how Washington is working to deepen ties with the world’s largest democracy, forging military and industrial links with India as a key counterweight to China’s dominance, even as the two democracies differ on how to deal with Russia’s Ukraine invasion. And this visit would further nail in stronger ties as the United States looks to blunt China’s growing assertiveness in the region. The relationship between the two democracies and their ties have steadily transformed and elevated into a strategic technology partnership.
“Fifteen years ago, we just wouldn’t have thought about it. But today, we are talking about the stuff which was unimaginable…now you’re talking about critical and emerging technologies, and data and AI that include semiconductors, quantum 5G, and 6G telecom sector. Technology also reflects trust and confidence between the two sides. And I think this aspect is the one which is going to really show the deepening of our relationship,” the top Indian envoy noted.
PM Modi’s trip to the US is being billed as a milestone in relations between the two democracies and the Indian envoy signals that the visit next week will be historic.
“This is indeed a historic and path-breaking visit. I use these terminologies by fully looking into them. You will see both on the substantive side and on the ceremonial side, that it will be historic,” Sandhu added. According to US National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan, “as we look ahead to the state visit that PM Modi will be embarking upon in Washington next week, a number of the deliverables at that visit are not just bullet points on a page, they are fundamentally designed to remove obstacles in defence and high-tech trades and in taking away obstacles that have stood in the way of better collaboration among our scientists and researchers.”
