PM Narendra Modi to visit US from June 21 to 25: What is a state visit?

The last state visit to the US was made by the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh between November 23 and 25, 2009

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to the United States of America (USA) for an official state visit from June 21 to 25, where US President Joe Biden will host him at the White House. This will be PM Modi's first state visit to the US during his nine-year reign as prime minister.

The last state visit to the US was made by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh between November 23 and 25, 2009.

Ahead of his visit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said that the trajectory of the India-US partnership is unthinkable and filled with promise.

Blinken addressed the US-India Business Council's India Ideas Summit in Washington DC. The annual USIBC summit is part of the US Chambers of Commerce and is being conducted ahead of the upcoming state visit of PM Modi.

"We know that India and the United States are big, complicated countries. We certainly have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access, to strengthen our democracies, to unleash the full potential of our people. But, the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable and it is filled with promise," Blinken said.

At the same event, India's ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, said that the speed and scale of the transformation of the India-US relationship have been "phenomenal." He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the third Indian leader to be accorded the honour of a state visit by the US President.

While addressing the India Ideas Summit, Taranjit Singh Sandhu said, "We are a week away from the historic state visit of Prime Minister Modi to the US, at the invitation of President Biden. There is great excitement, on both sides, as you can see. My Prime Minister is only the third Indian leader, in our independent history, to be accorded the honour of a state visit by the US President. He also becomes the only Indian leader to address the US Congress twice."

While PM Modi has visited the US several times, it is the first time his trip has been called a state visit. But what are these state visits?

What are state visits?

State visits are visits of a head of state/ government to a foreign country in their official capacity. These visits are officially described as a "visit of [name of state]" rather than a "visit of [name of leader]". State visits to the US happen only at the invitation of the president of the United States, acting in their capacity as the head of state.

In the US, these visits have elaborate ceremonies like a flight line ceremony, a 21-gun salute White House arrival ceremony, a White House dinner, and an exchange of diplomatic gifts, among other things.

PM Modi will have a state dinner on June 22.

Moreover, these visits are the highest-ranked category of foreign visits and are considered a sign of friendly bilateral relations. To maintain their prestige, these events are relatively rarer. For example, the US President can host one leader from a nation only once every four years.

According to the level of importance, state visits are followed by official visits, official working visits, working visits, guest-of-government visits, and private visits, in that order.

How is a state visit different from an official visit?

In a state visit, only a head of a state (head of government in case of parliamentary democracies) can visit the foreign country. On official visits, any other leader like the president, vice-president or ceremonial heads can visit the foreign nation.

The protocols that need to be followed by a host nation are also different in these two visits.

Moreover, state visits are highly elaborate and include bigger ceremonies than official ones.