PM In Washington; Dinner With Bidens, US Congress Address Ahead: 10 Points

PM Narendra Modi was welcomed by Indian expats in Washington.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi started his Day 2 in the US by leading the yoga event at the United Nations building in New York on international Yoga Day. He has now reached Washington, where the state visit officially begins.

Here are the Top 10 points in this big story:

PM Modi has reached Washington, where he was greeted with a ceremonial welcome and guard of honour at the Andrews Air Base. The national anthems of both countries were played. “Reached Washington DC. The warmth of the Indian community and the blessings of Indra Devta made the arrival even more special,” PM Modi tweeted.
PM Modi also visited the National Science Foundation in Virginia with First Lady Jill Biden. He shared his government’s goal to make this decade a “tech decade” and the initiatives being taken to empower young entrepreneurs.
Later in the day, he will hold a series of meetings with another group of industry leaders and CEOs. Among those PM Modi will meet are Micron’s CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, GE chief H Lawrence Culp Jr and chief of Applied Materials Gary Dickerson — names that have raised speculation about big announcements on Thursday.
Earlier today, PM Modi led a yoga event at the UN building, which was attended by luminaries from the fields of science, art and entertainment, academicians, technocrats and political leaders. Among them were the New York Mayor, three-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej, singer Falguni Shah, actor Richard Gere and various UN officials.
The programme created a Guinness World Record of people from a maximum number of nations practising yoga together. 135 nationalities participated today, breaking the earlier record of 114 nationalities.
“Yoga free from copyright, patent, royalties… It is a way of life…Yoga is flexible, you can practice alone, in groups, learn from a teacher or self-taught… It is unifying, it is truly universal. It is for all ethnicities, faith and cultures,” PM Modi said in his address at the yoga event.
On Thursday, PM Modi will attend a dinner hosted by US President Joe Biden and his family at the White House. He would inspect the Guard of Honour and later, hold bilateral talks in the Oval office.
In the evening, he will address a joint-sitting of the US Congress. This will be his second address to a joint-sitting – a first for an Indian and a rare honour for world leaders.
PM Modi had landed in New York yesterday to a rousing welcome from expat Indians and later held a series of meetings with Nobel laureates, academicians, industry leaders, authors, mathematicians and medical professionals.
Earlier, John Kirby, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, said PM Modi’s visit “will strengthen our two countries’ shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific and our shared resolve to elevate our strategic technology partnership, including in defence, clean energy, and space”.