PM Modi To Embark On Week-Long US Visit Today, To Attend 'Howdy Modi', Address UNGA Session

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will depart for a week-long visit to the US on Friday. Announcing the schedule of PM Modi, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said he is scheduled to arrive in Houston on Saturday. PM Modi’s visit, according to the Foreign Secretary has three main pillars to it; first, the multilateral engagements at the UN. Second, the bilateral component of the visit in the US. Third, bilateral meetings that he will have with the world leaders.

On Saturday PM Modi along with US President Donald Trump will attend the “Howdy, Modi! Shared Dreams, Bright Futures” mega diaspora event at 6 PM IST. The event is expected to be gathering of 50,000 people. “Howdy”, short for ‘How do you do?’, is a friendly greeting commonly used in southwestern United States.

As the world commemorates Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary, Modi will also host a special event 'Leadership Matters: Relevance of Gandhi in the Contemporary World' on September 24. He will be joined leaders of a few countries at this event.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the UN General Assembly (UNGA) session on September 27. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is also scheduled to address the assembly on the same day. According to an updated list of speakers released by the UN, Khan will address the session shortly after PM Modi's speech.

Imran Khan had said that he will present the Kashmir issue forcefully at the UNGA. However, PM Modi is more likely to focus on global issue during his speech.

According to reports, PM Modi’s speech may not even have any mention of Kashmir. PM Modi is expected to talk about global issues such as sustainable living, climate crisis and universal health coverage. This would go with India’s standard policy that Kashmir is an internal issue. With this tack, PM Modi will not only snub Pakistan but also pre-empt Islamabad’s plan to internationalise Kashmir issue.

The tension between India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5.

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