Published 15:54 IST, January 14th 2020
US President Donald Trump likely to make his maiden visit to India in February: Sources
US President Donald Trump is likely to visit India next month in February, in his first visit to the world's largest democracy ever since he took office in 2016
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US President Donald Trump is likely to visit India next month in February, in his first visit to the world's largest democracy ever since he took office in 2016, External Affairs Ministry sources said. PM Modi, who is seeking to build stronger bilateral ties with Washington, had previously invited the US President to attend India's annual Republic Day parade in February, however, US officials denied the invite saying that it would clash with Trump's State of Union address. As per sources, both New Delhi and Washington are working on their dates for the visit.
External Affairs Ministry source informed that Trump is likely to visit in the second half of February and that he might also visit another city apart from New Delhi. However, the Foreign Ministry has not given an immediate comment on the visit. Trump's visit comes amid nation-wide protests erupted against PM Modi-led government over the contentious amended Citizenship Act and proposed National Register of Citizens.
India-US strategic partnership.
Outgoing Indian Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla called on US President Donald Trump at the Oval Office in White House on Saturday and thanked him for his "steadfast support" for strengthening the India-US strategic partnership. Shringla is set to be the next Foreign Secretary of India. On December 23, Shringla was appointed as the next Foreign Secretary of India. He will succeed Vijay Keshav Gokhale who completes his two-year term on January 28. Shringla will assume his new post the next day.
The visit comes after a grand show of friendship and common vision, as PM Modi and US President Trump shared the stage at the "Howdy Modi!" gala event at the NRG Stadium in Houston and addressed a record crowd of 50,000 Indian-Americans. During the extravagant event, Trump touched upon every area of bilateral cooperation -- from a strong defense partnership to fighting global terrorism, a growing energy trade and energy security, advanced clean energy technologies, and also some of the forward-looking aspects such as joint space cooperation. Analysts predicted that this move is to improve the trade relations between the two countries.
According to the Washington Post, the leaders of the world's two largest democracies took the stage together in Houston before a roaring crowd of tens of thousands of Indian-Americans, where Modi delivered an unmistakable endorsement of Trump's presidency and cast their joint appearance in historic terms.
(With agency inputs)
15:54 IST, January 14th 2020