US President Donald Trump will embark on a two-day visit to India from February 24 during which he will travel to New Delhi and Ahmedabad to further strengthen the strategic bilateral partnership and highlight the strong and enduring bonds between the American and Indian people, the White House announced on Tuesday.
Highlights:
- President Trump and the First Lady will travel to New Delhi and Ahmedabad
- Modi had in June 2017 first extended an invitation to Trump to visit India
President Trump will be accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump and they will visit India on February 24-25, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said.
She said President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked on the telephone over the weekend.
“During a phone call over the weekend, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi agreed the trip would further strengthen the India-US strategic partnership and highlight the strong and enduring bonds between the American and Indian people,” she said.
Speculations have been made on this for months… When PM Modi met US President Trump, he had invited him to India… Both the countries are in contact over this. We will share with you as and when we get concrete information,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar had said during a briefing in New Delhi.
A statement from the Indian foreign ministry on Tuesday mostly mirrored the statement from the White House.
“At the invitation of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, His Excellency Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, will pay a State Visit to India on 24-25 February 2020. This will be the President’s first visit to India,” the Indian statement said.
Trump’s visit follows PM Modi’s tour of the US in September, during which he met with the US President in New York on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.
The meeting had come just days after the two leaders attended the mega ”Howdy Modi” rally in Houston which was attended by more than 50,000 Indian-Americans.
The two leaders also met in August at the G7 summit held in the French town of Biarritz.
Prime Minister Modi, while interacting with the media alongside President Trump, had rejected any scope for third party mediation between India and Pakistan on Kashmir, saying the two countries can discuss and resolve all issues bilaterally and “we don’t want to trouble any third country.”
India trip will be Trump’s second overseas this year, after a two-day visit to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum in Davos.
