Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a three day trip to the United States, he will be attending the Quad Leaders’ Summit being hosted by President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. Next he will be travelling to New York to address a mega community event in Long Island on September 22. The PM will also address world leaders at the landmark Summit of the Future event at the United Nations headquarters the next day.
With his schedule already packed, speculation remains rife whether the Prime Minster will have a meeting with the former US President, Donald Trump. Rumours gathered steam when the Republican leader mentioned PM Modi in a town hall meeting in Michigan, “He (Modi) happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he’s fantastic. I mean, fantastic man. A lot of these leaders are fantastic,” he said.
Trump and Modi have enjoyed a great camaraderie over the years, the former US President had hosted the Indian PM at a huge Howdy Modi event in 2019, the gesture was reciprocated by the Indian PM, hosting the then President Trump at a mega, Namaste Trump event in 2020. Both leaders had great words of praise for each other.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs is yet to confirm a meeting between the two leaders. The MEA, during a press briefing on Thursday, said the meetings of PM Modi to be held in US are being scheduled. “There are many meetings with the Prime Minister right now which we are trying to fix. Right now, I will not be able to tell you about any specific meeting, whether the meeting has been fixed or not. We are looking from all angles as to how much time we have and with whom we can hold meetings. We will keep updating you about the meetings,” said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
The PM’s visit and its expected impact remains the talk of the town, as it comes just a few days after the visit of the leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi. It is also important to note that the US presidential election is just two months away, where Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will go head to head for the top job.