Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for The U.S. on September 21 for the Quad summit and the Summit of the Future at the UNGA.
Briefing journalists on the visit on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the Prime Minister will fly directly to Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. President Joe Biden’s hometown. He is expected expected to have a bilateral with President Biden before attending the sixth QUAD summit, and then proceed to New York for the UN Summit of the Future the next day.
It was India’s turn to hold the Quad summit this year, “but we had discussions with our U.S. colleagues and at the request of the U.S. side, we agreed to exchange it given that the PM was going to be in the US, and India will host the next Quad summit on 2025,” he said.
The Quad “continues to work on implementing sustainability goals and delivering public goods, with a strong focus on peace, prosperity and stability,” he said.
Health security, climate change, critical and emerging technologies, HADR, maritime security and counter-terrorism are among the other issues that will be discussed.
One of the signature initiatives which will be unveiled on the sidelines of the QUAD summit will be the cancer moonshot event. ”To begin with, we aim to reduce the burden of cervical cancer in the Indo-Pacific region,” Misri said.
But he did say that bilateral meetings with the leaders of Japan and Australia had been lined up during the Quad summit.
“This will also be farewell event for President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida of Japan, and provides an opportunity for Prime Minister Modi to thank both the leaders for giving momentum to the partnership,” the Foreign Secretary said.
The bilateral meeting will give Prime Minister Modi and President Biden an opportunity to review the comprehensive global strategic partnership between the two nations. There will be an opportunity for both sides to exchange a few agreements. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework-related agreements and an India-US Drug Framework related MoU are among those.
Misri explained that the strategic partnership covers “almost every aspect of human endeavour through the 50 plus bilateral engagements and mechanisms that we have between the two sides.”
Bilateral meetings with the leaders of Japan and Australia had been lined up during the Quad summit.
On the 22nd in New York, apart from bilateral discussions with various leaders, he will meet the diaspora and major tech CEOs.
The community event will be held at Long Island, New York, while the meeting with tech CEOs will focus on opportunities in India, as well as a separate meeting with other major corporate CEOs.
“We have a 4.5 million strong Indian diaspora in the US, one that has made a mark and is contributing to the relationship between the two nations, he said.
On September 23, Prime Minister Modi will address the Summit of the Future at the U.N, and hold bilateral meetings which are being lined up. The Foreign Secretary remained non-committal on former President and U.S. Republican candidate for the November 5 Presidential elections Donald Trump’s assertion that he would meet Mr Modi during this trip.
“Last, but certainly not the least, is Prime Minister’s address to the Summit of the Future on the 23rd of September at the UN General Assembly,” he said.
“The Summit will bring together world leaders with the objective of enhancing multilateral cooperation with a view, obviously as the title says, to the future, to tackle the most pressing global challenges that we face, the gaps in global governance that exist. And one of the main areas of attention will be attaining the Sustainable Development Goals on target and on time.”
Prime Minister Modi returns to New Delhi on the evening of September 24, and the External Affairs Minister will be taking part in the ensuing high level week and deliver India’s National Statement, he concluded.
