Modi’s state visit will include an address to the joint session of the Congress and a state dinner at the White House…reports Asian Lite News
Speaking at the sidelines of his address at India-US Business Summit, Congressman RO Khanna said the US wants to make sure the GE Engines deal with India is done so that they don’t lose out to Europe.
Congressman Khanna said India has realised that the Soviet military equipment doesn’t work as well and the Soviet Union is moving towards China, and India has really been open to building a strong relationship with America. Saying India wants jet engines, he added, “And the first thing is to make sure that deal gets done, hopefully before the Prime Minister’s (Narendra Modi) visit. And we are working on that.”
“We also are working to ensure that the Prime Minister gets to speak to the United States Congress. The co-chairs will be requesting the speaker to issue that invitation,” he added.
“We need to be stronger on defence, and this is a key time,” he said.
Regarding jet engines, he further added, “The defence deliverable on the jet engines is critical.”
Further, on the business and economic ties between the two countries, he said, “There needs to be a continued effort. I think the reality is that India can emerge as the hub in Asia for the Asian market. Companies in my district like Apple moving out of China, moving into India, into Bangalore, and opening up Apple stores there. I have encouraged companies to manufacture in the United States and restore into the United States, but to the extent they need to sell into Asia to look to allies like India instead of China.”
“We need to figure out how to provide India with alternative sources of cheaper energy so they can grow. And I’ve appreciated that India has unequivocally condemned Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but this should not be a barrier to strengthening a partnership that will last decades,” he added.
Sources said that President Biden is looking forward to meeting PM Modi in June or July as the US House of Representatives and the Senate will be in session at the time and Prime Minister Modi will have a couple of days at his disposal since he does not have any predetermined domestic or international engagements at the time.
The state visit will include an address to the joint session of the US Congress and a state dinner at the White House. Sources, however, did not reveal when the invitation was given and who delivered this personal invitation from Biden to the Prime Minister’s Office.
A senior US administration official said President Biden believes that the India-US partnership is essential in areas such as upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific, climate crisis, food security, health security, and energy security. Prime Minister Modi described the Indo-US relationship as a partnership of trust and force for global peace and stability while speaking in Tokyo last year.
An official said, “The US really views that this is in our strategic interest to support India’s rise as a global power. We see that in both the Quad and India’s Presidency of the G-20. This describes a greater vision of this coherent US-Indo Pacific strategy that requires both the US and India pull closer together and overcome long-standing obstacles to doing so.”
