 "'State or official visit': Contours of PM's maiden US tour in the works")
A 'state visit' or an 'official' one, an address in New York in front of a stadium full of thousands of people from the Indian diaspora or at some hotel's conference hall, a possible oration to a joint session of the US Congress, a luncheon meeting with US senators and most importantly whether the Obamas host a grand state dinner for him at the White House or just a 'working' lunch - these are some of the pieces that will go into making Prime Minister Narendra Modi's itinerary during his maiden visit to the US in end-September.
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) headed by Sushma Swaraj, the Overseas Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the help of sundry non-resident Indian associations, as also Minister for Power and Coal Piyush Goyal and his friends in the investor fraternity, are all hard at work to make Modi's much anticipated visit to the US a resounding diplomatic and public relations success.
MEA is consulting the Barack Obama administration to ensure Modi gets the reception in Washington DC that a head of government of a key strategic partner of the US should get.
According to sources, the Americans have given to their counterparts in New Delhi a three-page detailed itinerary of possible official events and meetings that Modi and his delegation might participate during his September 29-30 visit to Washington DC. This itinerary is likely to be fine tuned during US Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to New Delhi for the India-US strategic dialogue on July 31. US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is also scheduled to visit New Delhi in the first week of August.
These meetings would finalise whether Obama administration accords Modi the honour of a 'state visit' with all its ceremonial regalia, including a state dinner at the White House, where the cream of the Indian diaspora would be invited. There is much ceremony, pomp and show attached with a state visit, while an 'official' visit is more work-oriented.
In November 2009, then prime minister Manmohan Singh was accorded the honour of not just a 'state' visit but also of being the first foreign head of government for whom the Obamas hosted a state dinner at the White House. Singh's next visit in 2013 was a low key affair with the two leaders and their respective delegations sharing what is called a working lunch. That visit was interpreted by observers as evidence that India-US relations were on a downswing.
Modi, along with most of his senior cabinet ministers, is scheduled to visit the US in end-September. He will first attend the UN General Assembly in New York. He is scheduled to meet Obama on September 30 in Washington.
In New York, the Overseas BJP in consultation with several NRI associations has plans to organise a victory parade for Modi. This would include NRIs lining up two sides of the street to the hotel where Modi would be staying. Also in the works is an address by Modi at a stadium.
According to sources, the initial plan was to have Modi speak at a stadium in New York. But its MetLife Stadium, which accommodates 82,500, is booked for a sporting event and the 50,000-capacity Yankees stadium is also not available.
Sources in Overseas BJP confirmed Modi would now speak at the Madison Square Garden, famous for the 1974 bout between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. It seats 20,000 people. The event would be live streamed to venues where NRIs would gather in 10 other cities.
Global convenor of Overseas BJP Vijay Jolly, Overseas BJP President Chandrakant Patel, oncologist Bharat Barai, Adapa Parsad and Gujarati Samaj's Jayesh Patel are the key coordinators of Modi's visit to the US. "It will be a visit not by a BJP leader but by the PM of India. We are working with Indian associations cutting across linguistic or regional groups to organise a great welcome for Modiji," Jolly said.
The team, along with Jolly, will conduct a 10-city tour across the US in end-August to "motivate" and "galvanise" support for Modi's visit. Involvement of several organisations and associations has also meant that Jolly and others are needed to play a "conciliatory role" among them.
However, BJP, wary of lobbies and interest groups within the US raking up old issues like 2002 riots, isn't keen to overstate the significance of the visit. The party is of the view that the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government has made its foreign policy priorities evident in the nearly 60-days it has been in office.
According to sources, the message from the Modi government is that US-India relations are important to Indian foreign policy, but equally important are India's relations with its neighbours and its partners among Brics countries. They point that Modi had invited Saarc leaders for his swearing-in ceremony, chose Bhutan as the first foreign country to visit and is likely to visit Japan before he heads to New York. "Ours isn't a US-centric foreign policy," a leader said.
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) headed by Sushma Swaraj, the Overseas Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the help of sundry non-resident Indian associations, as also Minister for Power and Coal Piyush Goyal and his friends in the investor fraternity, are all hard at work to make Modi's much anticipated visit to the US a resounding diplomatic and public relations success.
MEA is consulting the Barack Obama administration to ensure Modi gets the reception in Washington DC that a head of government of a key strategic partner of the US should get.
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According to a former diplomat, such a reception would help undo some of the recent friction both in the larger context of India-US relations and also as Washington had decided in 2005 to not grant Modi a visa.
According to sources, the Americans have given to their counterparts in New Delhi a three-page detailed itinerary of possible official events and meetings that Modi and his delegation might participate during his September 29-30 visit to Washington DC. This itinerary is likely to be fine tuned during US Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to New Delhi for the India-US strategic dialogue on July 31. US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is also scheduled to visit New Delhi in the first week of August.
These meetings would finalise whether Obama administration accords Modi the honour of a 'state visit' with all its ceremonial regalia, including a state dinner at the White House, where the cream of the Indian diaspora would be invited. There is much ceremony, pomp and show attached with a state visit, while an 'official' visit is more work-oriented.
In November 2009, then prime minister Manmohan Singh was accorded the honour of not just a 'state' visit but also of being the first foreign head of government for whom the Obamas hosted a state dinner at the White House. Singh's next visit in 2013 was a low key affair with the two leaders and their respective delegations sharing what is called a working lunch. That visit was interpreted by observers as evidence that India-US relations were on a downswing.
Modi, along with most of his senior cabinet ministers, is scheduled to visit the US in end-September. He will first attend the UN General Assembly in New York. He is scheduled to meet Obama on September 30 in Washington.
In New York, the Overseas BJP in consultation with several NRI associations has plans to organise a victory parade for Modi. This would include NRIs lining up two sides of the street to the hotel where Modi would be staying. Also in the works is an address by Modi at a stadium.
According to sources, the initial plan was to have Modi speak at a stadium in New York. But its MetLife Stadium, which accommodates 82,500, is booked for a sporting event and the 50,000-capacity Yankees stadium is also not available.
Sources in Overseas BJP confirmed Modi would now speak at the Madison Square Garden, famous for the 1974 bout between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. It seats 20,000 people. The event would be live streamed to venues where NRIs would gather in 10 other cities.
Global convenor of Overseas BJP Vijay Jolly, Overseas BJP President Chandrakant Patel, oncologist Bharat Barai, Adapa Parsad and Gujarati Samaj's Jayesh Patel are the key coordinators of Modi's visit to the US. "It will be a visit not by a BJP leader but by the PM of India. We are working with Indian associations cutting across linguistic or regional groups to organise a great welcome for Modiji," Jolly said.
The team, along with Jolly, will conduct a 10-city tour across the US in end-August to "motivate" and "galvanise" support for Modi's visit. Involvement of several organisations and associations has also meant that Jolly and others are needed to play a "conciliatory role" among them.
However, BJP, wary of lobbies and interest groups within the US raking up old issues like 2002 riots, isn't keen to overstate the significance of the visit. The party is of the view that the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government has made its foreign policy priorities evident in the nearly 60-days it has been in office.
According to sources, the message from the Modi government is that US-India relations are important to Indian foreign policy, but equally important are India's relations with its neighbours and its partners among Brics countries. They point that Modi had invited Saarc leaders for his swearing-in ceremony, chose Bhutan as the first foreign country to visit and is likely to visit Japan before he heads to New York. "Ours isn't a US-centric foreign policy," a leader said.