‘Honoured’: PM Modi accepts invite to address US Congress for 2nd time

PM Modi thanked McCarthy, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell who had jointly invited him.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted the invitation of the United States (US) Congressional leadership to address a joint meeting of the House of Representatives and Senate during his state visit to Washington on June 22.

Besides the address to the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the state visit, is expected to meet President Joe Biden for a private dinner on June 21 (ANI)

Read here: US Congress invitation puts Modi in elite club

Modi took to Twitter to respond to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s tweet outlining the invitation last week. The PM thanked McCarthy, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell who had jointly invited him.

Modi tweeted, “I am honored to accept and look forward to once again address a Joint Meeting of the Congress. We are proud of our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with the US, built upon the foundation of shared democratic values, strong people-to-people ties, and an unwavering commitment to global peace and prosperity.”

This will be the second time Modi will be addressing the US Congress. As HT reported last week, this puts him in a select group of world leaders who have had the same honour. Only Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Yitzhak Rabin and Benjamin Netanyahu have got an opportunity to speak to the US legislative branch on Capitol Hill in Washington DC more than once.

Besides the address to the Congress, Modi, during the state visit, is expected to meet President Joe Biden for a private dinner on June 21; he will receive a ceremonial welcome in White House and participate in both one on one talks with Biden and bilateral delegation level talks on June 22 and attend a state dinner in his honour the same evening after addressing the Congress. On June 23, Modi is expected to participate in events around the tech partnership, address business executives and professionals at Kennedy Centre, and speak at a diaspora event before heading back to India the same night.

As HT reported last week, Modi’s visit will begin in New York on June 21, where he will lead the global community on the north lawns of the UN headquarters in marking the International Day of Yoga, with over 2000 participants expected to join.

Read here: Bipartisan consensus in invite to PM Modi to address US Congress

The deliverables during the bilateral leg of the visit revolve around boosting the India-US defence partnership with a focus on co-production and co-development, technology transfer and defence innovation as well as ramping up cooperation in domains such as space, artificial intelligence, high-powered computing, knowledge partnership, and easing mobility links.