pm modi america visit date

PM Modi US visit: Dates, full schedule, events, agenda, and more

Pm modi's us visit would focus on strengthening ties, addressing mutual challenges, promoting trade relationships, and more.

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Day 1, June 21: Yoga in New York

Day 2, june 22: congress address, state reception, and state dinner, june 23: ceo meetings, lunch at state dept, and mega event for indian diaspora, june 24: pm modi will forge new paths in egypt.

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PM Modi US visit schedule: Dates, itinerary, scheduled events and agendary

Pm modi us visit schedule: pm narendra modi will visit the united states from june 20-24 at the invitation of president joe biden and first lady jill biden. modi will lead celebrations for international day of yoga at the united nations on june 21..

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit the United States of America on 20 June Tuesday at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. PM Modi will be in the States till 24 June.

PM Narendra Modi 's visit will commence in New York where he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21.

PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22, and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. The US President and Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening.

On 22 June, Thursday PM Modi will, at the invitation of US Congressional Leaders, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy and Speaker of the Senate Charles Schumer, address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress On June 23, PM Modi will be jointly hosted at a luncheon by US Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Bilnken. In addition to official engagements, Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to have several curated interactions with leading CEOs, professionals, and other stakeholders. He will also meet members of the Indian Diaspora. The PM will then travel to Cairo to pay a state visit to Egypt.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway at the United Nations Headquarters lawns in New York ahead of the Yoga Day celebrations which will be led by PM Modi.

PM Modi will lead a 9th edition of International Yoga Day on June 21 at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The International Day of Yoga has been celebrated worldwide annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014. Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice that originated in ancient India.

In his 2014 UN address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested the date of June 21, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares a special significance in many parts of the world.

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Modi State Visit Modi Promotes India to Congress After Meeting With Biden

Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized his country’s development and played up what he described as commonalities with the U.S. Earlier, he ducked a question about his government’s treatment of minorities.

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Modi Praises ‘Limitless’ Potential of U.S.-India Partnership

In a speech to congress, prime minister narendra modi of india promoted his nation’s development and said the relationship between his country and the united states was important for democracy’s future..

The U.S. is the oldest — and India, the largest — democracy. Our partnership augurs well for the future of democracy. [cheers] Together, we shall give a better future to the world and a better world to the future. Everyone wants to understand India’s development, democracy and diversity. Everyone wants to know what India is doing right and how. We are not only growing bigger, but we are also growing faster. When India grows, the whole world grows. I can go on and go on. But to summarize I would say: The scope of our cooperation is endless, the potential of our synergy is limitless and the chemistry of our relations is effortless.

Peter Baker

Biden welcomes India’s prime minister despite concerns over human rights.

President Biden emphasized common ground with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on Thursday during a lavish state visit meant to bolster ties with the world’s most populous nation, while largely skirting points of friction over human rights and Russia’s war in Ukraine, at least in public.

After a pomp-filled, red-carpet arrival ceremony, Mr. Biden and Mr. Modi announced a range of initiatives to advance cooperation in technology, energy and military hardware but revealed no movement toward each other on the areas of disagreement that have strained the relationship in recent months, most especially Ukraine.

In a modest but notable breakthrough, however, Mr. Biden coaxed Mr. Modi into taking questions from reporters at a news conference, apparently the first time he has done so in his nearly decade-long tenure .

Here’s what else to know:

Challenged on his record on human rights and religious freedom, Mr. Modi insisted that democracy was “in India’s DNA” and denied that his government had engaged in discrimination based on race, faith or other such distinctions. Mr. Modi’s government has cracked down on dissent and hounded opponents in a way that has raised fears of an authoritarian turn not seen since India’s slip into dictatorship in the 1970s. In hosting Mr. Modi, Mr. Biden is pushing democracy concerns to the background .

The United States is trying to draw India closer , as the urgency for improved relations has intensified with Russia’s war on Ukraine. India has maintained military and economic relations with Russia, buying up Russian oil at a discount and staying away from backing United Nations resolutions that have condemned Russia’s aggression.

Mr. Modi gave an address to a joint session of Congress where he promoted his country’s development and played up what he described as common themes with the United States.

The two leaders announced initiatives advancing cooperation on telecommunications, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and other areas. Mr. Modi agreed to sign the Artemis Accords — principles governing peaceful exploration of the moon, Mars and other celestial bodies — and they will announce a joint mission to the International Space Station in 2024. The United States and India also will open additional consulates in each other’s country.

Tonight, the Bidens will host Mr. Modi for a state dinner on the South Lawn. The vegetarian menu — in accordance with Mr. Modi’s diet — includes an optional fish entree. The first course will be a marinated millet and grilled corn kernel salad with compressed watermelon and avocado sauce, followed by a main course of stuffed portobello mushrooms and creamy saffron-infused risotto.

Suhasini Raj

Indian television heaps praise on Modi during his trip.

“Super King of Diplomacy,” read the ticker placed in bold on top of one news channel. “Long live our friendship,” said another. A third declared, “The Boss in America.”

Mainstream Indian news channels — in Hindi, English and some regional languages — covered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reception in Washington with adulation, praising his diplomatic skills for millions of viewers before a crucial election year for him.

The visuals from Washington played into what Mr. Modi has already set as one of his main campaign themes: tying India’s rise as a major economic power with his rise as a global statesman.

“The scale, the splendor, the warmth,” one headline enthused. Others, such as “Modi’s breakthrough diplomacy” and “Watch history being made,” flooded Indians’ homes Thursday evening as Mr. Modi walked the red carpet to meet President Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden.

“Their body language reflected that they were incomplete without one another,” one news anchor said as visuals of the two leaders shaking hands played on the screen.

Mr. Modi has carefully crafted his relationship with traditional news outlets, using a mix of incentives and pressure tactics to get most of them on his side.

When uncomfortable issues arise — a state election loss, an ethnic war resulting in weeks of unrest and bloodshed in a northeastern state, a deadly three-way train crash — they are quick to deflect blame away from Mr. Modi.

And when a major moment like the state visit to Washington comes, they are happy to join in the cheerleading — a factor that, combined with how Mr. Modi’s party has mastered social media to take his messages viral, helps explain Mr. Modi’s talent for shaping politics to his benefit.

The coverage of Mr. Modi’s visit to the United States is a political boon, setting the agenda in his favor before he launches himself full-time into campaign mode for parliamentary elections next year.

While many channels showed the White House dinner menu ad nauseam, calling it “dinner for friendship,” some others waxed eloquent about the importance of the gifts Mr. Modi had carried for the Bidens. One anchor declared of a military deal between the two countries: “The biggest defense deal. The hearts of enemies will burn!”

And when, at his news conference with Mr. Biden, Mr. Modi skirted a question on India’s grim human rights record and suppression of free speech, one Hindi-language news anchor came to his rescue on her show, saying he had “very bravely” faced the question.

Lisa Friedman

The U.S. and India agree to speed deployment of electric buses.

The United States and India have long been at odds over the responsibility of different countries in tackling climate change. But as Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up a visit to Washington, he and President Biden cast their nations as partners in the fight.

As Mr. Biden declared climate change an “existential threat to humanity” during a joint news conference on Thursday, Mr. Modi pledged that India was working to become a green energy hub. Both governments also announced plans to help India increase the production of electric vehicles and meet its ambitious goal of installing 500 gigawatts of wind, solar and other renewable energy this decade.

The Biden administration did not announce any direct U.S. funding for India. But senior administration officials said the governments had agreed on a plan they believed would encourage banks to give loans for electric buses, which are seen as a high-risk investment in India.

India aims to deploy 50,000 public electric buses over the next five years. The plan includes establishing three months of delayed payments so that companies can secure loans at lower rates. Biden administration officials said the payment security plan will help underwrite at least 10,000 electric buses.

The United States and India also announced a separate investment plan that officials said will be joined by private companies and others that aims to lower the cost of capital and attract international private finance for large-scale renewable energy projects. The joint announcement billed it a “first of its kind, multibillion dollar” package but no specific dollar figure from the United States or any other country or organization was announced.

Katie Rogers

Guests just started arriving at the White House for the state dinner. Some of the more notable names include Huma Abedin, a former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton; the designer Reem Acra; Apple’s Tim Cook; Hunter and Ashley Biden; and the president’s brother, James.

Alex Travelli and Mujib Mashal

Reporting from New Delhi

One accomplishment of Modi’s visit? Greater defense cooperation between India and the U.S.

One of the biggest takeaways from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit might be that it has injected new momentum into defense cooperation between the United States and India, a slow and turbulent undertaking in the past.

The two sides announced a deal for coproduction in India of engines for fighter aircraft, a $3 billion purchase of about 30 American Reaper drones by India, and a road map to expand cooperation between the two countries’ defense industries. There were also agreements on intelligence sharing and on space-based, quantum and other strategic technologies.

For the Biden administration, helping India expand its defense manufacturing tracks with its efforts to further isolate Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine . India has long relied on Russia for a majority of its military equipment, and any increase in manufacturing capability at home or diversification of its arms sources would lessen its purchases from Russia.

For India, the United States’ latest efforts to improve defense ties is in line with its attempt to grow its domestic manufacturing and reduce its reliance on foreign partners.

India’s military forces have stuck to most of the same weapons systems that they began using during the Cold War. India was neutral but tended to side more closely with the Soviet Union. Indian officials have said their dependence on Russian weapons over the decades was simply out of necessity: The U.S. long held back on sales of military equipment to India, and that has only started to change over the past two decades. As a result, the Indian armed forces still use equipment of Soviet design and specifications. Parts cannot be swapped out, piecemeal, for American-standard weaponry. In some rare cases, as with India’s use of Lockheed’s C-130 Hercules transport plane, a stand-alone American platform can be soldered onto the existing framework. But for the most part, the systems are not interoperable.

Technical challenges aside, one thing that the defense road map seems to be addressing is the reluctance that has kept the world’s biggest two democracies from seeing eye-to-eye. They have a long history of disagreement, over matters including Pakistan, Iraq and United Nations votes. But tensions with China are bringing them to the same table, especially after Indian and Chinese troops started clashing along their Himalayan border in 2020.

Australia and Japan, the other members of the fledgling security bloc aimed at containing China around the “Indo-Pacific region” (as the Americans renamed it, to include the Indian Ocean, in 2018), have long-established military partnerships and even alliances with the United States.

The “ Roadmap for U.S.-India Defense Industrial Cooperation ,” published earlier this month, illustrates the American goal of making India into something more like a formidable ally — and the Indian goal of beefing up its own capabilities. They find common cause in trying to “cooperatively produce the systems required to meet India’s military modernization objectives.”

But India’s ties with Russia are deep and cannot be undone quickly or with good will alone. Ajai Shukla, a retired colonel with the Indian Army who writes extensively about defense, is skeptical that America will find any durable role to play. He recalls how Alexander Kadakin, a Russian ambassador to India, liked to tell the story about visiting the Indian space centers and feeling more at home there than he did in Russia — because so many of the scientists were speaking Russian.

Karoun Demirjian

Modi waves to crowd in the third floor gallery, who stuck around to cheer him as he slowly makes his way toward the exit. Emphasis on slowly. He stopped for more autographs and pictures on the way out.

He texted from the speech to say that he “appreciated PM Modi’s unequivocal statement that India must be home to all faiths and celebrate all of them.” But he added that “American leaders need to also have the difficult conversations with Indian leaders about protecting minority rights, an open press and open internet.”

At the White House, some 400 guests are going to pass by reporters to attend the dinner. One of the guests is Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, who played a part in inviting Modi to give an address to Congress.

Here’s why Modi and many other Indian politicians stay single.

When President Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, take their place on the red carpet at the White House on Thursday to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, there will be an asymmetry of sorts in the picture-perfect setting.

Mr. Modi will go stag.

While a family-centric image is often a political selling point in the United States, in India, many top leaders — the prime minister among them — are proudly unattached, to make a statement that no other commitment can come between them and the nation.

Work-life balance? Not for politicians in the world’s largest democracy, who stay busy attending to the needs of 1.4 billion people and compete with one another in their declarations of sleep deprivation. (Mr. Modi clocks only four hours of slumber a night, his aides say.)

“Every moment of my time, every pore of my body, is only for my countrymen,” the prime minister said in 2019 after winning re-election .

India may seem a strange place for expressions of solitary political devotion. Here, family comes before self and arranged marriages keep families together. Nearly a third of new members of Parliament have had a relative in elected office or a prominent party position, according to one study .

But in a country tired of official corruption, with lawmakers enriching themselves and their families and ensuring political futures for their children, many voters have come to believe that single politicians are less likely to steal.

“The very strong perception,” said Ajoy Bose, a journalist and author, “is that they have no personal interest. That they belong to the people.”

Modi is sticking around in the well of the chamber to shake hands and sign autographs after the speech. In the gaggle of lawmakers around him are Representatives Shri Thanedar, Democrat of Michigan who was born in India; Mike Lawler, Republican of New York; Brad Sherman, Democrat of California; and Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina. Modi seems to be enjoying the attention and is not in a rush to leave the chamber -- though his security detail is trying to gently nudge him out.

As Modi makes his way out of the House chamber, he is stopped by members asking him to autograph their printed copies of his remarks.

Alex Travelli

India’s economy is already a star, but Modi wants the attention of American businesses and investors.

NEW DELHI — The state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India is full of eye-catching moments — practicing yoga outside the United Nations building in New York and addressing a joint session of Congress — that seem designed to burnish both India’s image on the world stage and his own image at home.

Apart from impressing voters back home and his fellow statesmen, Mr. Modi is hoping to get the attention of American businesses and investors.

India’s expanding economy is already in some ways a star. It displaced Britain as the world’s fifth biggest economy last year, and is on track to outpace both Germany and Japan in the decade ahead. The value of the companies listed on its stock markets are worth $3.3 trillion, more than ever before, and Mr. Modi’s government has tackled some challenges that have long stymied Indian growth, including rickety infrastructure and banks burdened with bad loans.

Foreign investors have taken notice, especially with much of the world’s economy looking shaky. A string of high-tech, high-value companies have flocked to India this year, with Apple and possibly Tesla making it known that they see a big future here.

But there are ominous signs, too. While foreign investment has been pouring in and the government has spent heavily on roads, energy and other public goods, private Indian investment has shrunk in proportion to the whole. And the incomes of average Indians have hardly budged in recent years, with most of the country still dependent on farming and many others working in jobs that barely keep them fed.

Indian and American policymakers and businessmen have been trying to devise ways that the United States could help India meet the moment — through a combination of trade, technology transfer, labor mobility and integration with global supply chains.

India’s trade with the United States is worth about $190 billion now, Atul Keshap, a former American ambassador to New Delhi who is president of the U.S.-India Business Council, said in an online discussion this week. It should soon be worth $500 billion, he argued, on par with the size of the U.S. trade relationships with only a few others: Canada, Mexico, the European Union and China.

The relationship could be boosted by the two countries’ altered relationships with China, not only in geopolitics, but also in civilian business and trade. American companies and political leaders are eyeing India — with its 1.4 billion people, same as China — as the sole country fit to shoulder some of the immense weight that China has carried in the world economy. “It’s a lot easier to invest $100 million in a country with 1.4 billion people than in a country with 40 million people,” said Cate Ambrose, chief executive of the Global Private Capital Association, an industry group focused on emerging markets.

With much of the world’s economy hindered by the war in Ukraine, inflation and other headwinds, the Indian economy’s power increasingly stands out. This week, Airbus, a European airplane-maker, signed deal to sell 500 aircraft to IndiGo, a low-cost Indian carrier founded in 2006. It is the kind of contract that American leaders dream of winning for the U.S. airplane giant Boeing.

Indians’ median incomes may be stagnant, even as gains made by wealthier people have brought the per capita income up to $1,200 a year. But the room for growth makes the country attractive as a consumer market. Last year, for example, 123 million passengers flew between India’s airports. The government’s goal is to reach 1 billion by 2040.

A new emphasis in the U.S.-India relationship is high-value manufacturing, and an initiative on emerging technologies has brought together government agencies from both countries to speed up cooperation on microchips, satellites and artificial intelligence. The White House argues that these projects, which sidestep bilateral trade negotiations, should help foster “resilient supply chains” for both countries.

Damien Cave

One of the things that makes Modi an interesting kind of popular leader in our current global moment might be his optimistic tone. He speaks of positive momentum, success and destiny more than flaws and enemies.

Mujib Mashal

As we wrote in our recent story about his role as a radio host, Modi has many avatars for keeping himself intimately omnipresent across India’s vastness — including that of a poet. He has written poetry in Gujarati, though he was reading a Hindi poem just now.

Congressional addresses often end with poetic language, but not usually poetry. After quoting the poem Amanda Gorman read at President Biden’s inauguration, Modi recited lines in Hindi that he penned himself.

On China, Modi has always been careful to avoid escalating tensions. When tensions at the India-China border escalated to bloody skirmishes, American diplomats were saying Modi’s government was not comfortable with U.S. officials mentioning China by name in statements made out of New Delhi.

A policy proposal from Modi, as he calls for the African Union to get full membership in the G20. (The speech so far has been big on promoting accomplishments but light on articulating demands for change.)

As Peter notes, the omissions of the words “Russia” and “China” show how carefully Modi is choosing his words as he supports the spirit of the U.S. position, while clearly signaling that India is not going to take a side in these geopolitical rivalries.

The technology transfer piece of the defense deal reflects not just improved U.S.-India ties, but also a major shift in how the United States works with allies in the Indo-Pacific. Australia is getting nuclear-powered subs from America. Japan is buying American Tomahawk missiles. It’s all part of a broader effort to balance China’s military growth.

U.S.-India defense relations have had to overcome a history of deep mistrust rooted in both bureaucracies. But it feels like the countries are turning a new page. The American defense secretary and national security adviser were both in New Delhi in the weeks before Modi’s visit to Washington.

India’s ties to Russia stretch decades, and India still relies on Russia for a majority of its military equipment. So India has been careful in calling for peace and dialogue while staying away from condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

In discussing Ukraine, Modi calls for respecting U.N. principles of sovereignty, earning a standing ovation. He also said “we all must do what we can to stop the bloodshed and human suffering.” However, India continues to buy a lot of oil from Russia, engaging in a practice that the United States argues fuels the Russian war machine.

Likewise, when he discusses “the dark clouds of coercion and confrontation” that are “casting their shadow in the Indo-Pacific,” he leaves unstated who might be doing the coercing and confronting, never mentioning the word “China.”

When Modi mentions Ukraine, he shifts to passive construction. “With the Ukraine conflict, war has returned to Europe,” he said, without mentioning the word “Russia.”

Zolan Kanno-Youngs

Reporting from Washington

State Dinners: Who Gets Them, Who Doesn’t and Why They Matter

As President Biden welcomed India’s prime minister to the White House , the two leaders were looking for more than a fine vegetarian meal and a night of glitzy entertainment.

Under the guise of pomp and pageantry, state visits are a chance for presidents to push foreign dignitaries to align with American interests. They can be a way to celebrate old, ironclad alliances . And with high-profile guest lists , multicourse meals and top-flight entertainment, they are much-coveted invites in Washington .

“These are not just dinners,” said Matthew Costello, a senior historian for the White House Historical Association. “There’s a lot more that goes into them in terms of planning, in terms of invitations, and a lot is geopolitics, a lot is foreign policy.”

When President Dwight D. Eisenhower invited Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, to the White House in 1959, he was focused on thawing Cold War tensions after the launch of Sputnik. Before President Barack Obama hosted President Xi Jinping of China, the two countries negotiated for weeks over an arms control accord for cyberspace. President Ulysses S. Grant held the first state dinner for King David Kalakaua of Hawaii to strengthen trade.

The dinners can also provide a window into the regions the United States is prioritizing — and the ones being neglected.

European and Latin American nations have received the most state dinner invitations, while sub-Saharan African and Southeast Asian nations have received the fewest, according to a study by the Center for Global Development that tracked 40 years of state visits from the Carter to Obama administrations.

Out of 160 dinners, just 15 were with guests from sub-Saharan Africa, the study found.

“To be a foreign leader and not get the state dinner, you feel snubbed,” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian. “It’s often the smaller countries in the world who don’t get them, but when you’re dealing with big power players like India, it’s a must.”

The invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India was not without controversy. Mr. Biden has made the global struggle between democracy and autocracy a key part of his foreign policy, but Mr. Modi’s government has cracked down on dissent in ways that have raised fears of authoritarianism.

Still, the White House views the world’s most populous nation as a potentially welcome addition to its coalition against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as a crucial player in its growing economic competition with China.

The other nations whose leaders received the official invitation to dine with Mr. Biden — France and South Korea — have also been partners in Mr. Biden’s effort to confront Russia.

The state dinner can sometimes be a means of smoothing over hiccups among allies.

Mr. Biden hosted President Emmanuel Macron of France for the first state visit of his administration, more than a year after the two nations feuded over a deal to provide Australians with nuclear-powered submarines. Mr. Biden invited Anthony Albanese, the prime minister of Australia, for a state visit after he canceled a trip there in May because of negotiations over the debt ceiling with congressional Republicans.

“There are multiple times we see presidents using these visits to not just describe immediate concerns, but also to talk through short-term and long-term solutions,” Mr. Costello said.

Domestic politics often hang over the dinner, as well.

Julianna Smoot, Mr. Obama’s social secretary from 2010 to 2011, said she made sure to invite the often-feuding majority and minority leaders of the Senate, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell, to state dinners for a rare détente. Governors and mayors who had previously expressed support or campaigned for the president were likely to make the list. And the primary donors of presidential campaigns could expect an invitation, particularly if they had business connections to the visiting nation.

“They didn’t become donors in politics because they were slouches,” Ms. Smoot said. “A lot of them do international work and have an interest” in attending the dinner.

The prospect of strengthening political partnerships overseas and within U.S. borders was usually enough to get a quick response from invitees.

“You’re supposed to say yes,” Ms. Smoot said of responding to the invitations, “unless there’s a death in the family.”

Cheers and laughs for Modi’s hat tip to how well Indian American kids have done in successive national spelling bees.

Mentioning that the United States “has become one of our most important defense partners” gets a standing ovation. Not mentioned: India still buys weapons from Russia.

Liberal Democrats boycott Modi’s speech to Congress.

A half-dozen liberal House Democrats are boycotting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech to Congress on Thursday afternoon, in protest of what they criticize as his abysmal human rights record, particularly toward Muslim minority groups in India.

Four of the protesting members released a statement Thursday condemning the address as “an embarrassing spectacle,” arguing that by giving Mr. Modi such a rare platform, “Congress undermines its ability to be a credible advocate for the rights of religious minorities and journalists around the world.”

“We must never sacrifice human rights at the altar of political expediency,” Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Cori Bush of Missouri, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Jamaal Bowman of New York wrote in the joint statement. They called on other members of Congress to join their protest and “stand in solidarity with the communities that have been harmed by Modi and his policies.”

But while other lawmakers have acknowledged and even criticized Mr. Modi for promoting antidemocratic and Hindu nationalist policies, and criticized him for failing to condemn violent assaults against minority groups, they have recoiled at the idea of boycotting a visit from such an economically and strategically important U.S. ally.

“We need to engage,” said Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, a member of Indian descent who co-chairs the Congressional Caucus on India, arguing that India’s government leaders are “not going to be open and receptive to something that comes off as the West lecturing.”

“I think they’d be much more open to a dialogue as equals about the project of multiracial democracy,” he said.

The Biden administration has been pursuing closer ties with India, particularly as the United States’ standoffs with Russia and China intensify. India’s large economy and population make it an enticing partner for the United States, particularly as Washington tries to reduce its economic reliance on Beijing, and there is a concerted effort to woo New Delhi away from Russia, from which it continues to purchase weapons and oil , in order to help undermine Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

But the protesting lawmakers objected viscerally to the geopolitical justifications for Mr. Modi’s address. Pointing out that Mr. Modi once failed to get a U.S. visa because of his participation in deadly religious riots, they argued he should not be rewarded years later with a diplomatic red carpet.

“A joint address is among the most prestigious invitations and honors the United States Congress can extend,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Democrat of New York, who is also boycotting Mr. Modi’s speech, wrote in a statement that she tweeted out Wednesday evening. “We should not do so for individuals with deeply troubling human rights records — particularly for individuals whom our own State Department has concluded engaged in systematic human rights abuses of religious minorities and caste-oppressed communities.”

Sarah Maslin Nir

Indian Americans are divided over Modi’s visit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India stressed inclusivity when he appeared before a yoga class on the lawn of the United Nations in Manhattan on Wednesday, trumpeting the Hindu discipline as an act of “unity.”

But Indian Americans appeared deeply divided about Mr. Modi’s visit.

“To host him for a state dinner and give a semblance of the two democracies — the world’s largest and the world’s oldest — of everything being well and good in both democracies, that is a charade,” said Sunita Viswanath, the executive director for Hindus for Human Rights, an organization founded as a resistance effort to Mr. Modi’s policies.

She spoke while standing in front of the White House at a protest on Thursday, urging President Biden to call out India’s anti-democratic shift, even while he woos its leader.

“If we are friends, the best kind of friend we can be is one that asks difficult questions — and tells the truth,” Ms. Viswanath said while holding a sign that said “real Hindus don’t lynch,” a reference to mob violence against Muslims in India that has surged under Mr. Modi’s regime.

Still others welcomed Mr. Modi’s visit to the United States — some literally: On Tuesday the mayor of Edison, N.J., Sam Joshi, greeted the prime minister personally at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, part of an official welcoming delegation, and later did yoga with him.

In Manhattan, where the yoga session was held, several trucks emblazoned with questions about his human rights records and the hashtag #CrimeMinsterOfIndia drove through Times Square.

Images of the Modi truck at large. pic.twitter.com/q8QEOZZtNj — Aatish Taseer (@AatishTaseer) June 21, 2023

In an interview, Mr. Joshi focused on the bridge-building possibilities of the visit, which the mayor, who is of South Asian descent, said he was asked to join by the president.

“I know that this is a step toward the U.S. and India moving in a better direction,” he said on Thursday from Washington, where he was attending Mr. Modi’s congressional address. “That is the reason why I am here.”

A handful of members of Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York City, pledged to boycott the prime minister’s address to Congress, citing Mr. Modi’s troubled record on religious and press freedom.

“I encourage my colleagues who stand for pluralism, tolerance, and freedom of the press to join me in doing the same,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement.

In New York City, three elected officials of South Asian decent called upon their colleagues to denounce the visit to the city.

“Modi is reshaping the nation from a secular democracy into a right-wing Hindu nationalist state,” New York City Council members Shekar Krishnan and Shahana Hanif and New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani wrote in joint statement. “Prime Minister Modi’s oppressive and unjust policies run counter to all of the values that New York City holds dear.”

On Friday, Mr. Modi’s itinerary called for him to speak to about 1,100 Indian Americans in Washington. “There are a large portion of us from all over U.S.A. who wanted to see him on this tour,” said Amitabh V.W. Mittal, the general secretary of the United States Indian Community Foundation, a nonpartisan organization created for the purpose of hosting the diaspora event.

Mr. Mittal dismissed criticism of the prime minister’s policies as unfair. Mr. Modi, he said, has championed innovation in the tech sector, added jobs and pushed to modernize the country’s infrastructure for all Indians regardless of sect.

Mr. Mittal said he welcomed other opinions, and that people of different faiths would be at the event his group was hosting. “Every good leader has good opposition,” Mr. Mittal said. “If he doesn’t have good opposition, that’s not good for democracy.”

What to know about the state of India’s democracy.

As President Biden rolls out the red carpet for Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, he is embracing a country that is coming into its own on the global stage.

India is the world’s most populous nation, finally emerging from the shadows of its colonial past and the immediate burden of combating hunger and disease, and is now also the fifth-largest economy. It has a young work force, a strong tech industry, a growing consumer market and barely scratched potential as a manufacturing hub.

But all the talk of India’s rise masks a backsliding of its democratic traditions.

Expert opinion on the health of India’s democracy falls on a wide spectrum between outright alarm at an authoritarian turn, and belief that the concern is exaggerated given that India has pulled through such stresses on its constitutional democracy before.

Some democracy watchdogs have expressed worry. The way Mr. Modi has cracked down on dissent and free speech, and hounded his opponents, is often seen as comparable only to the 1970s Emergency, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi suspended democracy. India tops the global list of internet shutdowns. Opposition leaders are frequently raided by investigating agencies and bogged down in court cases.

Other experts, while acknowledging concerns, have said the cause for alarm is overstated. Rahul Verma, a fellow at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi, argued in an academic article that India under Mr. Modi was a paradox of sorts, with “democratic erosion in certain areas such as civil liberties and protection of minorities, but deepening of democratic norms in many other areas.” For example, more people — particularly women — are voting and running for office.

What sets apart Mr. Modi’s systematic consolidation of power, much of it achieved not through dramatic power grabs but through more subtle and lasting means, is that it is entrenching Hindu supremacy in India’s constitutionally secular democracy.

Mr. Modi’s outsize influence over the arms of state has created widespread impunity for his right-wing vigilante supporters, who are doing the ground work of turning India into a Hindu-first nation. There is a perpetual sense of combustibility, with the country’s religious minority of more than 200 million non-Hindus, most of them Muslims, often at the receiving end.

Large-scale riots with mass casualties have become rarer than in the recent past, but hate is more easily spread through social media, where Mr. Modi’s party and support base have a dominant presence. Emboldened vigilantes have attacked mosques and churches, hounded interfaith couples and lynched men accused of transporting beef, and viral videos of the violence on social media have created a suffocating constancy to the tension.

When clashes happen, the state often doles out justice in a partisan manner. Police officers are often restrained in their actions against Hindu vigilantes. But the authorities — trailed by news cameras — are increasingly quick to exert swift, collective and extrajudicial punishment , particularly in the form of bulldozing homes, when the perpetrator of a crime is Muslim.

Happymon Jacob, who teaches foreign policy at the New Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University, said India had reacted angrily when the United States had raised human rights concerns, “sending a message to the U.S. that it needs to choose between preaching to India or engaging India.”

“I think the U.S. has realized that it would be sacrificing the geopolitical utility of the Indo-U.S. relationship if it decides to castigate India on human rights issues,” he said.

Karan Deep Singh contributed reporting.

A scorecard for Narendra Modi’s India.

After nearly a decade in power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi brings to Washington a record that has prompted pride and outrage.

Among fans, he is beloved for overseeing record growth, building roads and airports, and expanding access to sanitation, clean water , cooking fuel and digital payment systems. Critics, however, say Mr. Modi and his party have unleashed a dangerous wave of Hindu nationalism, muzzling critics and encouraging violent discrimination against minorities.

Mr. Modi’s supporters and detractors have ample evidence to back up their assessments. And, as is often the case with India, which now has the world’s largest population , a lot can be understood through numbers.

10 to 5: Under the Modi government, India has moved up five places in the global economic rankings, becoming the fifth largest economy in the world. It is projected to have the fastest growth of any major economy this year, continuing a trend that began under Mr. Modi’s predecessor.

74 to 148 : In nine years, according to the government, the number of airports in India has doubled.

382 to 693: The number of medical colleges in India has also soared. In February, the government said its universities could seat nearly 100,000 medical students each year, up from around 50,000 in 2014.

117.2 million : That would be the number of toilets that Mr. Modi says his government has installed under a program for rural sanitation.

8 billion: The transactions that took place on India’s new digital payments system in January alone. The rapid growth of the program , which began under Mr. Modi’s predecessor, has relied in large part on the government’s push to give every citizen a unique identification number, called the Aadhaar, which allows for payments small and large.

4: Governments run by Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in four Indian states demolished dozens of properties belonging to Muslims after a series of protests last year. Mr. Modi, who started working with the B.J.P. in the 1970s, has done little if anything to discourage such efforts — or violence against Muslims by Hindu nationalists, or widespread anti-Muslim bias in India’s police forces. An independent study from 2019 found that one in two police officers felt that Muslims were “naturally prone” to crime.

2 million: In the state of Assam in northern India in 2019, two million people were told that they were considered stateless after a mass citizenship check . New York Times reporters interviewed several members of the tribunal making the decisions, and they said they had felt pressured by the government to declare Muslims to be noncitizens.

35: In August 2019, the Modi government stripped constitutional autonomy from India’s only Muslim-majority state, Jammu and Kashmir. Since then, according to Human Rights Watch, at least 35 journalists in Kashmir have faced police interrogation, raids, threats, assault, restrictions on movement, or fabricated criminal cases for their reporting.

84: India shut down the internet at least 84 times in 2022, the highest number of any country for the fifth consecutive year. In many cases, the blackouts were targeted to locations with ethnic or religious violence that might undermine the image of a peaceful, prosperous India that Mr. Modi promotes — at home, and now in Washington.

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PM Modi US Visit Highlights: PM On High-Level Visit To US Arrives In Washington

Pm modi in us: the prime minister was welcomed by senior officials of the biden administration and india's envoy to the us taranjit singh sandhu..

PM Modi US Visit: Senior Biden officials and India's Envoy welcomed PM Modi in Washington

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who embarked on a high-level US visit on Wednesday at the invitation of President Joe Biden, is set to meet US Vice President Kamala Harris and global CEOs on the first day of his US visit today. The Prime Minister was welcomed by senior officials of the Biden administration and India's envoy to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

The second meeting on PM Modi's agenda will be with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. PM Modi and his Australian counterpart also spoke on the phone last week to review the progress of India- Australia Comprehensive Partnership which includes the pertinent 2+2 dialogue. PM Modi will also attend the Quad summit and address the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Joe Biden will host PM Modi at the White House tomorrow - the first in-person meeting between the two leaders after Biden took over as the US President in January this year.

Here are the Live updates of PM Modi's US visit:

वाशिंगटन पहुंचे पीएम मोदी, भारतीय अमेरिकों ने किया स्वागत pic.twitter.com/rmnBP1QwO2 - NDTV Videos (@ndtvvideos) September 23, 2021

"Grateful to the Indian community in Washington DC for the warm welcome. Our diaspora is our strength. It is commendable how the Indian diaspora has distinguished itself across the world," tweets PM Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/fXRif5I0oO - ANI (@ANI) September 23, 2021

Grateful to the Indian community in Washington DC for the warm welcome. Our diaspora is our strength. It is commendable how the Indian diaspora has distinguished itself across the world. pic.twitter.com/6cw2UR2uLH - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 22, 2021

Landed in Washington DC. Over the next two days, will be meeting @POTUS @JoeBiden and @VP @KamalaHarris , Prime Ministers @ScottMorrisonMP and @sugawitter . Will attend the Quad meeting and would also interact with leading CEOs to highlight economic opportunities in India. pic.twitter.com/56pt7hnQZ8 - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 22, 2021

Exuberant members of the Indian diaspora welcoming PM @narendramodi upon landing in Washington D.C. pic.twitter.com/cqELcYtMnN - Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) September 22, 2021

US: PM Narendra Modi was received by India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu, along with the Defence attache incl Brigadier Anoop Singhal, Air Commodore Anjan Bhadra, naval attache Commodore Nirbhaya Bapna & US Dy Secy of State for Management &Resources TH Brian McKeon pic.twitter.com/KadTmLfvkB - ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2021

Always a matter of pride to see our 🇮🇳 away from India. The tricolour fluttering at the Joint Base Andrews in honour of PM @narendramodi . pic.twitter.com/qJSgpsdmcB - Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) September 22, 2021

Namaste USA! PM @narendramodi was greeted on arrival by Shri Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Ambassador of India to USA and Mr. T. H. Brian McKeon, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. pic.twitter.com/0sVCrP5Miu - Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) September 22, 2021

US: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets people who were waiting to welcome him at Joint Base Andrews in Washington DC pic.twitter.com/YkAWQSPCI3 - ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2021

#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the airport at Andrews Airbase, United States pic.twitter.com/K2fJotDCfX - ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2021

#WATCH | United States: People hold the Indian National flag as they cheer & wait for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrive at Joint Base Andrews in Washington DC pic.twitter.com/aBGiFbcXZS - ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2021

US: People hold Indian National flags amid light showers as they wait for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to arrive at Joint Base Andrews in Washington DC pic.twitter.com/Hdvag5LwQ3 - ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2021

A long flight also means opportunities to go through papers and some file work. pic.twitter.com/nYoSjO6gIB - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 22, 2021

Will also participate in the Quad with President @JoeBiden , PM @ScottMorrisonMP and PM @sugawitter . We will take stock of outcomes of Summit in March. I will also address UNGA focusing on the global challenges. https://t.co/FcuhlJbeSl - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 22, 2021

At the invitation of @POTUS @JoeBiden , I am visiting USA to continue our dialogue, and exchange views on areas of mutual interest. Also looking forward to meet @VP @KamalaHarris to discuss global issues and explore ideas for cooperation between 🇮🇳🇺🇸. - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 22, 2021

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Modi US visit: PM announces opening of new Indian consulate in Seattle, investments from US

Pm modi in us live updates: prime minister narendra modi addressed the joint session of the us congress on thursday. he heaped praise on india in terms of economic growth, covid vaccinations and women empowerment. he was accorded a grand welcome at the white house, by us president joe biden, the leaders held one-on-one talks at the oval office to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual and global interests. penn masala, a south asian a cappella group performed during pm modi's ceremonial welcome at the white house. pm modi arrived at the white house on thursday to hold bilateral talks with us president joe biden. he arrived in washington dc on wednesday, after an eventful day in new york. he met the first lady of the us, jill biden, and visited the national science foundation in alexandria, virginia. later in the day, he met president joe biden, who hosted a private dinner for him at the white house. pm modi and the bidens exchanged gifts during the intimate dinner..

Over 100 stolen antiques to be returned to India from US: PM Modi

About 100 ancient artifacts stolen from India will be returned by the American government, Prime Minister Modi said. "These antiques were taken away both in the wrong and right ways, and found their way into foreign markets. I thank the US government for returning these. This symbolises that we respect each others’ emotions as countries. This shows that India-US relations are strengthening not just businesswise, but also sentimentally," the Prime Minister said.

Today's India will surprise you with its digital revolution: PM Modi

"India has witnessed an unprecedented digital revolution over the past years. This new, changed India will surprise you. In India, anyone can do banking from any part of the country 24*7. The reason behind this tremendous progress in India is the belief of 140 crore people in the country. Modi has not done anything alone. Hundreds of years of colonisation had taken this belief away from us," PM Modi said while addressing the Indian diaspora at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC.

Together we are not just forming policies but shaping lives, destinies: PM Modi

Prime Minister Modi said the two countries have affected several lives, even as he went on to say that "together we are not just forming policies but shaping lives, destinies". "Many of you have been living here for years. But I know your hearts are back in India," he said.

New indian consulate in Seattle this year, two more in other cities

PM Modi declared that a new Indian consulate will be opened in Seattle this year, with two more in other US cities. "America's new consulates will be opened in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. It has now been decided that the H1B visa renewal can be done in the US itself," the PM further said. 

PM lists major investment announcements by US companies amid 'Modi Modi' chants

PM Modi declared several announcements of investments in India. "Google will open its global Fintech centre in India, Boeing has declared significant investment. General Electric’s decision to manufacture fighter plane engines in India will be a milestone in India’s defence sector,” says PM Modi while addressing the Indian diaspora at Ronald Reagan Center, Washington. All this will create investments as well as jobs in India, he said.

India-US heading towards a better future together: PM Modi

PM Modi said, "I am also thankful to President Biden. He is a sorted and experienced leader. He has personally put a lot of effort to bring India-US relationship to new heights and I appreciate his contribution publicly. Be it defense, industry, manufacturing, or the industrial supply chain, we are heading towards a better future together."

PM Modi thanks Indian diaspora for "Mini India" in US

"You people have formed a mini India here. I can see people from every corner of India. It's like a mini India. Thank you for showing me such a beautiful picture of India in US. The love I am receiving here in the US is very overwhelming. And the credit goes to all your hard work and contribution to the progress of America," PM Modi while addressing the Indian disapora.

One new university opens in India every week, new college every 2 days: PM Modi

At the USISPF event, PM Narendra Modi said, "You will be delighted to know how swiftly India is going ahead...Today, one new University is coming up in India every week. Every third day, one Atal Tinkering Lab is opening in India. Every second day, a new college is being opened. Every day a new ITI is being established in India. Every year one new IIT and one new IIM is being set up in India. Talents from such institutions are working for the welfare of humanity..."

#WATCH | Washington, DC | At the USISPF event, PM Narendra Modi says, "You will be delighted to know how swiftly India is going ahead...Today, one new University is coming up in India every week. Every third day, one Atal Tinkering Lab is opening in India. Every second day, a new… pic.twitter.com/ISNguHdGO0 — ANI (@ANI) June 23, 2023

Whenever India grew stronger, whole world has benefitted: PM Modi

At the USISPF event, PM Narendra Modi said, "Ease of doing business is a promise of our government. Whenever India has grown stronger, the whole world has benefitted."

This is the moment; India and US have set the ground for growth: PM Modi

At the USISPF event, PM Narendra Modi said, "Technology handshake held at the White House today is a direct message to the companies, businesses, manufacturers and innovators of both countries - This is the moment. The Indian and US governments have done the groundwork for you. But now, the responsibility to grow on this ground is yours."

Reforms in India unprecedented with high growth, low inflation: PM Modi

Prime Minister Modi highlighted that the reforms in India are unprecedented. "India is showing high growth and low inflation. Our exports, Forex are growing. The FDI has set a new record. The middle class is growing in India. Aviation growth is also significant. Indian airlines has given hundreds of aircraft orders recently. India-US are moving ahead as most reliable partners in several sectors," the PM said.

Indian aspiration giving strength to US aspiration in almost all sectors: PM Modi

"India-US defense partnership is creating special relations with almost every state of US, opening a new dimension of support and partnership. Be it textile, food or tourism, Indian aspiration is giving strength to US aspiration almost in all sectors. I am happy that Indian companies are investing billion of dollars in US. Indian companies are becoming global," PM Modi said.

Aspiration of Indians is growth engine, no different from American dream: PM Modi

PM Modi said that the aspiration of Indians is the growth engine of the country. "It's not different from the American dream. We are eradicating extreme poverty.We Indians have made a resolution for the development of India. We are empowering the poor....increasing the ease of living. The Indian economy has climbed to number 5 from number 10," he said.

India, US partnership not of comfort but of conviction, commitment: PM Modi

At the USISPF event, PM Narendra Modi says, "It has been four days since I came to the US. In these 4 days, I met several people, including President Biden. The one thing that gave me self-confidence is -- India and US partnership. I can confidently say that this partnership is not just of convenience but of conviction, of compassion and of shared commitment for a better future. The foundation of this partnership is you..."

You are vital for America's development: PM Modi to entrepreneurs in Washington

Addressing a gathering of entrepreneurs in Washington, Prime Minister Modi said, "I was eagerly waiting for this program during my visit to America. All of you are strong pillars of America's development journey. That's why I wanted to meet you guys. You all have worked so hard to bring America to this height of success."

Singer Mary Millben to perform Indian National Anthem at concluding event

Award-winning International Singer Mary Millben says "It is such a great honour to be here and be a part of PM Modi's concluding event for his tour to the United States."

Mary Millben will be performing the National Anthem of India at the concluding event.

State Secretary Antony Blinken calls PM Modi's visit historic

Addressing the gathering, State Secretary Antony Blinken said it  has truly been a historic visit to Washington.  "Today the US and India partnership is closer and more dynamic than ever. Our partnership has reached from Seas to Stars," Blinken said, highlighting that Air India has purchased a record number of Boeing aircraft providing jobs for Americans.

PM Modi to address US-India Strategic Partnership Forum shortly

PM Modi will shortly address the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) at the Kennedy Centre in Washington.

Watch: Members of Indian diaspora registering for PM Modi's address

Members of the Indian diaspora registered themselves ahead of the PM's address at a community event at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington DC. 

Members of Indian diaspora registering themselves ahead of PM's address at community event at Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington. #PMModiUSVisit pic.twitter.com/ozd3FTazMS — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 23, 2023

PM’s vision for Digital India was way ahead of his time: Google CEO Sundar Pichai

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, after meeting  PM Modi, said, "It was an honour to meet PM Modi during the historic visit to the US. We shared with the Prime Minister that Google is investing $10 billion in India's digitisation fund. We are announcing the opening of our global fintech operation centre in GIFT City, Gujarat. PM’s vision for Digital India was way ahead of his time I now see it as a blueprint that other countries are looking to do"

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Indian Prime Minister Modi to visit the U.S.

Ayesha Rascoe

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to Seema Sirohi – a columnist for The Economic Times – about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US this week.

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

The White House will roll out the red carpet this week for a crucial Asian ally. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet President Biden on Thursday, with a lavish state dinner also on the schedule. That same day, Modi will address a joint session of Congress. The Biden administration has made deepening ties with India a top foreign policy priority as it hopes to counter China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Seema Sirohi is a columnist for The Economic Times, one of India's most influential newspapers, and author of the book "Friends With Benefits: The India-U.S. Story." She joins us now to discuss the trip. Welcome.

SEEMA SIROHI: Nice to be with you.

RASCOE: The White House is pulling out all the stops for Prime Minister Modi. Why is this relationship so important to the U.S.?

SIROHI: Well, the U.S. has identified China as a competitor, as a rival. So India has become very important for U.S.'s Indo-Pacific policy because the U.S. wants to retain its No. 1 position in the region. India, which has China on its border, is in a very sort of border standoff situation for the past two years. So the interests of both India and the United States have converged on countering China, to put it very simply. And then there are many, many other reasons why the U.S. thinks of India as a major partner. India needs the U.S. for its own development. The U.S. needs the talent from India. As you might know, there are almost 200,000 Indian students in the United States, and Indian Americans are increasingly very, very important, both politically as well as in the economic arena.

RASCOE: And so what will Prime Minister Modi want from President Biden during this visit? Like, what are his priorities?

SIROHI: So for India, technology transfer is a top priority. Becoming part of the supply chains is another very big priority. Both countries trust each other, and they are building what they call resilient supply chains so that the world will not be dependent on just one factory that is China. There is a deal that might be signed for one of the major U.S. companies to invest in trying to create a semiconductor ecosystem in India. Another big deal that is likely to be announced is for the U.S. General Electric to co-produce its military jet engines in India. And that's a huge step forward 'cause India has long wanted technology transfer. In the past things have stalled because the U.S. hasn't been so amenable to that.

RASCOE: And so, I mean, you've been covering this relationship for decades, so how has it changed over the years?

SIROHI: What I can tell you is when I first came to Washington, India was not an important partner for the United States. Everything was about China and Pakistan, both of which are rivals of India. Then President George W. Bush changed dramatically the U.S. policy towards India because Bush's idea was why aren't the two democracies better friends? So India and the U.S. signed a major nuclear deal under which India was recognized de facto as a nuclear weapons power. Now people are comparing that transformative moment to today.

RASCOE: Prime Minister Modi has been accused of eroding Indian democracy and suppressing criticism of his ruling party. Do you think any of that will be raised this week?

SIROHI: It won't be raised in public, I would say - not by the administration, not at the White House. But you might see some comments from congressmen and senators on Capitol Hill. But right now, realism in terms of geopolitics tops human rights concerns, to put it very bluntly. Countering China is very important for the United States at this moment, and getting as many allies and partners in line on the American side is the main goal.

RASCOE: That's Seema Sirohi, a newspaper columnist and author of "Friends With Benefits: The India-U.S. Story." Thank you so much for being with us.

SIROHI: Thank you.

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PM Narendra Modi's US visit 2023: FULL schedule, dates, agenda, meetings, 21-gun salute, intimate dinner with Bidens and other details

Pm narendra modi us visit 2023: pm narendra modi's historic visit to the us will kickstart on june 20, 2023. his first state visit since 2014 when he became the prime minister, pm modi will be hosted by us president joe biden and first lady jill biden at the white house for a state dinner. he will also be holding meetings with business personalities in new york and attending bilateral meetings crucial for indo-us relations..

Updated Jun 19, 2023 | 08:02 PM IST

President Joe Biden and FLOTUS Jill Biden to host PM Narendra Modi at the White House | PM Narendra Modi Us visit (File Photo: Tweeted by MEA)

Key events to watch out for during PM Narendra Modi's US visit | PM Modi US visit schedule

PM Narendra Modi to visit the United States this week 🇺🇸 What's on the agenda? Take a look👇 @narendramodi @POTUS #NarendraModi pic.twitter.com/tGI44ktBIu — ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) June 19, 2023

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PM Modi in US Highlights: 900+ Indian-Americans rally in unity march to honour visit

Prime minister narendra modi is visiting the united states from june 21-24 at the invitation of us president joe biden and first lady jill biden. ahead of modi's expected departure today, foreign secretary vinay kwatra shared details on the prime minister's itinerary during a special briefing. his agenda includes a series of high-level meetings on defence cooperation and critical and emerging technologies. catch live updates on prime minister modi's visit to the us with cnbc-tv18 here:.

What’s behind Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit?

The US is seeking stronger ties with India, which it sees as a vital ally in efforts to contain China’s rise.

The administration of United States President Joe Biden is scheduled to host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an official visit later this week, as the two countries strengthen their ties amid shared antipathy towards China’s growing influence.

The White House will hold a state dinner in Modi’s honour on June 22, a sign of the burgeoning relationship between the two powers who have stepped up cooperation in areas such as trade and arms sales.

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India, us agree on roadmap for defence industry cooperation, india’s pm narendra modi to address us congress, bbc gets india court summons in defamation case over modi film.

In a press release, the Biden administration said that a recent trip to New Delhi by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan “underscored the dynamism of the US-India partnership in advance of Prime Minister Modi’s historic official state visit next week to the United States”.

But human rights groups say the celebratory dinner is a de facto endorsement of India’s far-right turn under Modi’s leadership — and undermines the Biden administration’s stated goal of emphasising human rights and democracy in its foreign policy.

During Modi’s tenure, India’s Muslims and other minorities have experienced an uptick in violence and repression as the government leans into a form of Hindu nationalism known as Hindutva . Modi has also been criticised for seeking to consolidate power and crack down on dissent.

“A state dinner is a special occasion; it’s not something that just any foreign leader receives,” Edward Mitchell, the deputy executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told Al Jazeera over a phone call.

“How can the White House honour a leader who is an open anti-Muslim bigot, a right-wing ideologue who censors journalists and turns a blind eye to lynchings? You can work with India and Modi without taking this extra step to celebrate him.”

Confronting China

While advocacy groups have called for greater scrutiny of India’s human rights record , foreign policy experts say the Biden administration is primarily interested in the country as a potential counterweight to China, which the US sees as its most formidable global competitor.

Sarang Shidore, Director of Studies and Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute, a US-based think tank, told Al Jazeera that he believes the US-India relationship will continue to grow as long as their shared concern over China remains in place.

“The United States does not conduct its foreign policy based on democracy and human rights. It conducts its foreign policy based on its interests, as all states do,” Shidore said.

China’s growing military power and assertive territorial claims have become a source of concern for nearby Asian countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan and India. The US has worked to fashion alliances with many of those countries in an attempt to contain China’s expanding influence.

“No question, there is increased Chinese nationalism,” said Shidore. “And China sees India as an increasing challenge due to its relationship with the US.”

Expanding ties

That was not always the case. During the Cold War, India’s relations with the US were often frosty. The country had cultivated close ties with the USSR and helped spearhead the Non-Aligned Movement, an organisation of countries that rejected pressures to join either pro-US or pro-Soviet blocs.

For its part, the US was a key ally of Pakistan. And by the early 1970s, the administration of US President Richard Nixon started to build a cooperative relationship with China, as an attempt, in part, to place pressure on the USSR.

But as the Cold War ended and China’s economic rise became a preoccupation of US foreign policy, India — with its size and economic heft — started to be seen as a key regional ally.

Despite its improved ties with the US, however, India has continued to resist what it sees as a false choice between the US and countries like President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

But as Russia wages war in Ukraine and Washington seeks to isolate Moscow economically and diplomatically, that balancing act has become more difficult for India to maintain.

While India has increased its purchase of weapons from countries such as France and the US and recently agreed on a roadmap to increase cooperation with the US defence industry, it remains the world’s largest importer of Russian arms.

India has also joined China in buying up Russian oil at discounted prices, while the US and the European Union angle to limit Russia’s power in the global energy market.

But Shidore said that India’s status as a central player in Washington’s Asia strategy gives it significant leverage . Its ties to Russia are not likely to get in the way of its relationship with the US, he explained.

“India has played this quite well, playing Russia and the US off each other, and has benefitted in the process,” he said. “A country like India, which has such a strong convergence with the US on China, can create major spaces where it will differ very strongly from the US and can ride that out.”

Consolidating control

While US relations with allies such as Saudi Arabia and Israel have come under political scrutiny in recent years, Modi’s trip to the US has been welcomed with bipartisan support. An a joint letter inviting Modi to address Congress during his visit, members of the US House of Representatives and Senate have hailed the visit as a sign of the “enduring friendship” between the two countries.

“During your address, you will have the opportunity to share your vision for India’s future and speak to the global challenges our countries both face,” the letter reads.

However, Modi’s human rights record has not gone entirely unremarked. On Tuesday, a group of more than 70 lawmakers from the US House and Senate penned a letter to the Biden urging him to discuss concerns about religious freedom and journalistic expression in his talks with Modi.

The Muslim rights group CAIR, meanwhile, has issued a statement calling on the White House to drop its plans for a state dinner.

Modi’s high-profile reception in the US is a far cry from what he experienced before he was first elected prime minister in 2014. Prior to becoming India’s leader, Modi had been banned from entering the US due to allegations that he turned a blind eye to anti-Muslim violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, when he was the province’s chief minister.

The deadly 2002 riots were the subject of a BBC documentary that Modi tried to ban in January, invoking his emergency powers as prime minister. The rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch screened the documentary in Washington on Tuesday.

Human rights groups say the move to ban the film was representative of a larger effort under Modi to stifle dissent and exercise control over independent institutions. They also accuse his government of pursuing an agenda influenced by far-right Hindu nationalism.

In an annual report on religious freedom in May, the US State Department expressed concern about the situation in India, noting that there were “open calls for genocide against Muslims”, lynchings and “attacks on places of worship”.

In May, for the fourth year in a row, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom called on the State Department to designate India as a “country of particular concern”.

In some states controlled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), politicians who lean into violent anti-Muslim rhetoric face little reprimand. Some Hindu nationalist paramilitaries have also waged a campaign against interfaith marriages , which they portray as an effort to dilute the Hindu population and win converts to Islam through “love jihad”.

Shidore, however, said that Modi’s human rights record has been quickly “papered over” and is unlikely to prevent cooperation with the US, so long as China remains a serious global competitor.

“The United States”, he said, “has set human rights issues aside in order to strengthen ties”.

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• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Visit to the US, June 21–23, 2023

At a Glance Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, wrapped up his three-day state visit to the United States on Friday, June 23, 2023. The visit was marked by announcements to expand economic engagement and resolve on both sides to elevate the bilateral relationship to a global strategic partnership. During the visit, Modi held a one-on-one conversation with US President Joe Biden ahead of the delegation-level talks. Both leaders affirmed that technology would play the defining role in deepening the partnership between India and the United States. The two leaders also highlighted the significance of the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership and the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP) to demonstrate their commitment to climate action and clean energy. Here are some of the major highlights of the visit:

The Indo-US Joint Statement

A joint India-US statement was issued after the visit to announce deals on semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), telecoms, jet engine manufacturing, drones purchasing, and investments in energy and mobility sectors. The two leaders also affirmed to extend digital partnership and collaboration on sustainable development and global health. During his visit, Modi also met American CEOs from top companies including Google, Boeing, and Amazon and addressed a joint session of the US Congress.

Key takeaways from the joint statement:

• Deals were announced that will strengthen semiconductor supply chains: India to receive investments from Micron Technology and Applied Materials. Lam Research to train Indian workforce.
• Joint research: Both countries signed an implanting arrangement to further support joint research on quantum, artificial intelligence, and advanced wireless technologies.
• Energy collaboration and investment platform on green technology: A New and Emerging Renewable Energy Technologies Action Platform to accelerate cooperation in green hydrogen, offshore and onshore wind, and other emerging technologies launched.
• Decarbonizing transportation sector: USAID signed an MOU with the Ministry of Railways to work together on Indian Railways’ target to become a “net-zero” carbon emitter by 2030. The United States and India also announced plans to create a payment security mechanism that will facilitate the deployment of 10,000 made-in-India electric buses in India.
• Biofuels initiative: The Global Biofuels Alliance, established by India with the United States as a founding member, will facilitate cooperation in accelerating the use of biofuels.
• Accelerating the fight against cancer and diabetes: The US National Cancer Institute will foster collaboration between US and Indian scientists through two new grants to develop an AI-enabled digital pathology platform.
• Jet engine co-production: GE and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited signed an MoU to jointly produce fighter jet engines in India.
• Predator drone procurement: India to procure armed drones from General Atomics.
• Resilient supply chain: The United States and India finalized a Defense Industrial Cooperation Roadmap that provides policy direction to defense industries and enables co-production of advanced defense systems.

Meeting with top American CEOs and business leaders

Prime Minister Modi interacted with CEOs and business of top American companies during a roundtable at the White House. The meeting was marked by pledges of deeper US-India cooperation on areas including space, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. After the meeting, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the tech giant is investing US$10 billion in India’s digitization fund and announced the opening of its global fintech operation center in GIFT City, Gujarat. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy took to Twitter to announce that the e-commerce giant will invest a total of $26 billion in India by 2030. In a statement, tech giant Microsoft said that its CEO, Satya Nadella, held discussion with PM Modi around the power of technology, particularly artificial intelligence, to help improve the lives of Indians.

Other CEOs present during the roundtable included Sam Altman (OpenAI), Tim Cook (Apple), and Lisa Su (AMD). Earlier, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had also met the Indian Prime Minister soon after he landed in the US.

PM Modi’s address to joint session of the Congress

Prime Minister Modi addressed a joint session of the US Congress. During his speech, PM Modi mentioned the growing Indo-US trade and economic relations and spoke on the rapid steps both countries are taking to boost strategic partnership. Here are some of the quotes from PM Modi’s speech:

Indo-US partnership

“Today, India and the US are working together in space and in the seas, in science and in semiconductors, in startups and sustainability, in tech and in trade, in farming and finance, in art and artificial intelligence.”

Climate actions

“We became the only G20 country to meet its Paris commitment. We made renewables account for over 40% of our energy sources, nine years ahead of the target of 2030. But we did not stop there. At the Glasgow Summit, I proposed Mission LiFE—Lifestyle for Environment. This is a way to make sustainability a true people’s movement.”

Women empowerment

“Today, in modern India, women are leading us to a better future. India’s vision is not just of development which benefits women, it’s of women-led development where women lead the journey of progress.”

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US President Biden to host PM Narendra Modi for state visit in June

Prime minister modi's visit will strengthen two countries' shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous, and secure indo-pacific, said white house press secretary karine jean-pierre.

FOR THE first time in nine years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to the US for an official state visit from June 21 to 24, where he will be hosted by US President Joe Biden at the White House.

Modi, who will travel to Australia, Japan and Papua New Guinea this month, is likely to meet Biden at least four times within a month, between May 19 and June 22. He will go to Hiroshima (Japan) for the G-7 summit (May 19-21), then to Papua New Guinea for the Pacific Islands’ leaders summit, and Australia for the Quad leaders’ summit. Biden will also visit these three countries at the same time.

This is Modi’s first state visit to the US since he assumed office in 2014. His previous visits to the US to meet then Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump at the White House were not classified as state visits. The last official state visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the US was undertaken by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November 2009.

State visits are considered to be the highest expression of friendly bilateral relations and are replete with official public ceremonies. In the US, these ceremonies include a flight line ceremony (where the visiting head of state is greeted at the tarmac after landing), a 21-gun salute White House arrival ceremony, a White House dinner, exchange of diplomatic gifts, an invitation to stay at the Blair House (US President’s guesthouse across the Pennsylvania Avenue), and flag street-lining.

Modi, according to sources, will start his visit from New York, where he will lead the International Yoga Day celebrations — with the UN building as the backdrop — on June 21. From there, he will head to Washington DC for the state visit. He is also expected to address the Indian diaspora in Chicago.

A coordinated official announcement about the visit was made by the Ministry of External Affairs and the White House almost simultaneously on Wednesday.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on an official state visit to the United States of America, which will include a state dinner on June 22, 2023, following an invitation from President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden ,” the MEA said.

It said the visit will “underscore the growing importance of the strategic partnership between India and the United States as the two nations collaborate across numerous sectors”.

“The leaders will have the opportunity to review strong bilateral cooperation in various areas of mutual interest, including technology, trade, industry, education, research, clean energy, defence, security, healthcare, and deepening people-to-people connections,” it said.

Modi and Biden “will also explore ways to strengthen India-US collaboration in pluri-lateral and multilateral fora, including in the G20. They would reflect on their shared vision for a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific and discuss opportunities to expand and consolidate the Quad engagement,” it said.

Stating that President Biden and the First Lady would host Modi for a state visit, the White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said: “The upcoming visit will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together.”

“The 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. The leaders will discuss ways to further expand our educational exchanges and people-to-people ties, as well as our work together to confront common challenges from climate change, to workforce development and health security,” the spokesperson said.

This visit is significant at a time when India has maintained a diplomatic tightrope walk on the Russia- Ukraine war, where it has chosen not to take sides explicitly, either with the US-led West or the Russian side.

However, China’s aggressive behaviour at the India-China border as well as the Indo-Pacific region has brought the two countries closer.

Modi is the third world leader to be invited for a state visit by Biden, following French President Emmanuel Macron late last year and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in April.

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Indian election: Prime Minister Modi's BJP seeks supporters in the U.S.

This week the world’s biggest democratic election kicks off in India, as almost 970 million voters decide whether to give Prime Minister Narendra Modi a third term. The election will last six weeks after a campaign that has sprawled across India — and into the United States as well.

Modi’s supporters credit him with putting India on the global stage and turning it into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world . His critics, however, say Modi has fanned a wave of Hindu nationalism , cracked down on opponents, stifled press freedom and stoked religious tensions with Muslims and other minority groups.

In the weeks leading up to the election, which begins Friday, the overseas arm of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has enlisted members of the Indian diaspora in the U.S. to campaign on his behalf, either by phone calling friends and family in India or by traveling to India themselves.

More than 60 Modi supporters turned up to an event at the Potomac Community Center in Maryland last month, many of them wearing scarves of saffron, a color associated with Hindu nationalism. 

At the event, leaders of the Overseas Friends of BJP listed what they saw as Modi’s achievements since taking office in 2014: developments in infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, technology and education and, more recently, the inauguration of a grand Hindu temple on a contested holy site. 

Attendees were urged to use these as talking points to nudge friends and family in India to vote for Modi, and many stood ready to help.

“Especially when they see me, that I’m from [the] United States, it carries a weight,” said Kanwaljit Soni, OFBJP’s coordinator for the Sikh community, who was planning to travel to India to campaign ahead of the election, which runs from April 19 to June 1. 

It’s a familiar routine for him. During the last election, in 2019, he said, he spent three weeks in India traveling from village to village to encourage people to vote for the BJP.

“I will be going to where my roots are in the different states,” he said.

Aware of the gargantuan task of defeating Modi, the fractured opposition has tried to consolidate into a single coalition by fielding a single candidate against the BJP. But many candidates have already switched to the BJP or backed out of the coalition.

“It’s no longer party versus party. It’s a person against a person, and there is no other credible person with a national stature like Modi,” said Sanjoy Chakravorty, a professor of geography, urban studies and global studies at Temple University in Philadelphia and the author of “The Truth About Us: The Politics of Information From Manu to Modi.”

The opposition has been further constrained by what it says are strong-arm tactics by Modi and his government. Dozens of opposition politicians have been jailed or are under investigation, and there were protests last month when Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, was arrested in connection with corruption allegations that he denies.

Last month, Modi’s government froze the bank accounts of the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, in a tax dispute. The party said the move was politically motivated and hindered its ability to campaign.

Modi has said that India’s democracy remains robust and that there is “absolutely no discrimination.” His government says the Congress party fears a historic defeat and that its accounts were frozen because it failed to file tax returns for past donations.  

The Congress party has also tried to mobilize support among Indian Americans with rallies across the U.S., arguing that India cannot afford a third Modi term. 

“Democracy is under an existential crisis in India right now and people are afraid to speak out,” said George Abraham, vice president of the Indian Overseas Congress.

But it is hard to compete with Modi, who experts say has built the narrative of being a “great leader,” his face appearing everywhere in India from outdoor displays to vaccination certificates. That has extended abroad to the Indian diaspora in the U.S., which has never been more passionate about politics at home. 

Modi’s state visit to Washington last year drew a few hundred protesters, but thousands of South Asians also flooded the city’s landmarks, either to support him or just to revel in the historic moment.

“It’s the convergence of the whole nation into a person,” Chakravorty said.

Adapa Prasad, president of Overseas Friends of BJP, said the group aimed to reach almost 50,000 members of the Indian diaspora in the U.S., with the goal of helping Modi and the BJP secure a landslide victory.

And Maryland was just the first stop.

The group planned to hold pre-election rallies in 20 U.S. cities, modeled after Modi’s “Chai Pe Charcha,” or “discussions over tea” — televised programs in which he discusses various issues with citizens and top leaders. 

There are an estimated 4.4 million people of Indian origin living in the U.S., making them the largest Asian American group , according to the Census Bureau. While many are U.S. citizens, barring them from voting in Indian elections, they may still have family links in India.

For those unable to travel to India, there is also the option of campaigning by phone, Prasad said.

People who are “sympathetic to BJP” will call their relatives in India and urge them to vote, he said.

India has a multiparty parliamentary system in which the candidate who receives the most votes in their home constituency wins. The party with the biggest share of candidates in the Legislature gets to pick the prime minister. Even though Modi’s party received 37% of the votes in 2019, it won 303 out of the 543 seats. 

Flanked by almost a dozen party flags, supporters in Maryland chanted “Victory of Mother India” and, “This time, above 400” in Hindi, referring to the BJP’s goal of securing more than 400 seats.

Calling Modi a “sensible leader,” Peeyush Uniyal, who is originally from the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand and now lives in Ellicott City, Maryland, said that “especially from the development point of view, I think it becomes a no-brainer.”

He dismissed concerns about the rise of Hindu nationalism as “overblown.”

Virginia resident Upasana Dhankhar said it was her first time venturing into politics. “It’s the consistency of leadership,” said Dhankhar, a former professor of Indian history.

She moved to the U.S. in 2019, the same year Modi revoked the Indian Constitution’s Article 370, which granted semiautonomous status to Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority region. The widely criticized move in the disputed territory was followed by the arrival of thousands of troops and a six-month communications blackout.

“Resolving the Kashmir problem was a big thing,” Dhankhar said, mirroring an argument from a PowerPoint slide titled “Article 370 SCRAPPED.”

The BJP’s campaign in the U.S. was another way of revving up Modi’s global fanbase, Chakravorty said.

“The entire civilization is on the rise,” he said, “and they want to be part of it.”

CORRECTION (April 16, 2024, 1:55 p.m. ET): Because of an editing error, the headline on a previous version of this article misstated Narendra Modi’s position. He is prime minister, not president.

Mithil Aggarwal is a Hong Kong-based reporter/producer for NBC News.

Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.

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Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Exuding confidence in BJP's performance in Kerala, defence minister Rajnath Singh said that the party would register victory in double-digit seats in the state in the upcoming polls, reported news agency ANI.  "I pay my respect and condolences to BJP workers of Kerala who sacrificed their lives to get a double-digit vote percentage for the BJP... Now I can confidently say that BJP will now win double-digit seats in Kerala," said Singh

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Which states will be voting in first phase of polls?

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Voting for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 will take place on April 19. Today is the last day of campaigning for political parties, with the BJP and the Congress party concluding their rallies for the first phase of the elections. On Friday, a total of 102 constituencies across 21 states will cast their votes for the general elections. Dig Deeper

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: How many public meetings and road shows BJP leader Rajnath Singh held

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Defence minister and BJP leader Rajnath Singh held 26 public meetings and three road shows across 12 states while campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha elections after the notification was issued by the Election Commission of India, reported news agency ANI.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: PM Modi writes letters to all NDA candidates contesting in the first phase

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday wrote personalised letters to all BJP and NDA candidates contesting in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election on April 19. Addressing the candidates as his "fellow karyakarta", PM Modi wrote that this in not an ordinary election. "Families across India, especially the senior members, would remember the difficulties they have gone through in the 5-6 decades of Congress' rule. In the last 10 years, the quality of life of every section of society has improved, with many of these troubles removed. Yet a lot more is still to be done and this election will be decisive in our mission to ensure a better life for everyone," PM Modi's letter read. Dig Deeper

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Ready to give funds, but press EVM button in our favour: Ajit Pawar

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said he was ready to sanction funds liberally for development, provided people showed the same generosity while voting for the ruling Mahayuti alliance.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'Rahul Gandhi will become the PM,' predicts Telangana CM Revanth Reddy

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: While campaigning in Kerala's Wayanad, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy has predicted that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will get a majority of over 5 lakh votes.  "Rahul Gandhi will get a majority of over 5 lakh (votes) because people here are not casting their votes for an MP, but for prime minister. People know that the INDIA alliance will form government (at the Centre) and Rahul Gandhi will become the PM," said Reddy as quoted by news agency PTI.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: DPAP chief Ghulam Nabi Azad not to contest polls from Anantnag-Rajouri seat

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: DPAP chief Ghulam Nabi Azad won't contest Lok Sabha polls from Anantnag-Rajouri seat in Jammu & Kashmir, says party.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: ‘Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is sitting at home during election time,’ claims  RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has claimed that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is sitting at home during election time.  "We have seen this for the first time in history that CM is sitting at home. Whether he is staying at home or he has been trapped, this is a thing to ponder upon...," said Yadav.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'BJP is getting election funds via CBI, ED, and IT raids,' says Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin has claimed that the BJP is getting election funds via CBI, ED, and IT raids.

 "We will win 40 out of 40 seats...Jharkhand CM & Delhi CM are in jail, the reason you know? It is because of the fear of the elections. They (BJP) do not think about the people, they only think of the corporates...All parties are getting election funds, that's not an issue, but BJP is getting via CBI, ED, and IT raids...," said Stalin as quoted by news agency ANI.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'UDF and LDF looted the people of Kerala in their successive regimes,' says BJP leader Rajnath Singh

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: While addressing a poll rally in Kerala, Defence minister and BJP leader Rajnath Singh said, "...Supreme Court categorically said that if someone is responsible for the financial crisis of Kerala then it is the state government. I want to say give enough strength to the BJP; LDF, UDF can be only checked by the BJP and we can give them a befitting reply. UDF and LDF have looted the people of Kerala in their successive regimes...The people of India have decided 'abki baar 400 paar'..."

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Check out these news stories

Check out these news stories related to the Lok Sabha election 2024

Mamata Banerjee takes 'riot only guarantee' jab; BJP claims she demeaned Ram Navami

Priyanka Gandhi's ‘Ram Navami’ attack on BJP over inflation, unemployment

Lok Sabha elections: AAP launches 'AAP ka Ram Rajya’ website

Jalandhar: Ex-CM Channi hits campaign trail, slams AAP govt’s ‘anti-people’ policies

Lok sabha elections 2024 live: former tamil nadu cm e palaniswami holds roadshow in salem.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu CM E Palaniswami is holding a roadshow in Salem

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'PM Modi is remembering south India for votes,' says Telangana CM Revanth Reddy

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Telangana CM Revanth Reddy has accused PM Modi of ignoring south India before elections.  "It's good for the slogan (BJP's 400 plus slogan) but it won't succeed as PM Modi has got two terms but he has betrayed people. South India is in India only, why didn't he come here earlier, why didn't he give us the bullet train and riverfront like Sabarmati. He is remembering South India for votes. He hasn't given political representation (President, Vice-President, HM, Defence Minister) and financial allocation to South India. BJP has no right to seek votes here, South has banned them... BJP is doing legal corruption and all those who are doing such including Pinarayi Vijayan are coordinating with PM Modi. Why he (Kerala CM) is not supporting the LDF candidate in Wayanad? He is supporting Surendran (BJP's candidate)...," said Reddy as quoted by news agency ANI.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'If Mr Adani wants land, PM Modi can get him that land,' claims Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched allegations at PM Modi involving industrialist Adani.  While addressing a public meeting in Kolar, Gandhi said, "Wherever Mr Adani wants money, doesn't matter how poor the family is, doesn't matter if they're starving, if Mr Adani wants that land, Mr Narendra Modi can get him that land. He wants Mumbai airport, the owner will get a CBI case and soon will hand the airport to Adani. He wants the storage facility of our farmers, he will get that storage facility."

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'BJP government has left us with inflation and massive unemployment,' says Congress leader P Chidambaram

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: While campaigning for his son and Congress candidate from Sivaganga, Karti Chidambaram, Congress leader P Chidambaram accused the BJP government of causing inflation and massive unemployment in the country.  "BJP under PM Modi has been in office for 10 years, which is a big time to assess the government. This government has left us with inflation and massive unemployment, and on these two grounds, this government must go. No government must remain in power for more than 10 years, after which there must be a change of government, of thinking, of policy, and a change of actors... BJP is contesting only about 420 or 430 seats, of which, they are contesting on 25 seats in Tamil Nadu. If they will lose all 25 seats in Tamil Nadu how will they win 400... We will sweep in Tamil Nadu, kerala, Karnataka, and Telangana, and we will win a substantial number of seats in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi...," said Chidambaram as quoted by news agency ANI.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'BJP has become godown for the corrupts,' says Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has jibed at the BJP, saying, "I have said this earlier, I am saying it now, BJP will be wiped out from the west (Western UP). It is so as they have betrayed the farmer. They said that would double the farmer's income but have failed even to provide MSP... It's not '400-paar' but 400-haar'. BJP has become a godown for the corrupts, all the corrupts are there now. Don't you see what has happened in Electoral bonds? BJP can't answer it. Extortion has been done through ED and CBI. This govt is playing with institutions. If institutions are weakened so does democracy."

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: What Trinamool Congress has promised in its manifesto

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday released its election manifesto, two days before the first phase of the election begins. Coochbehar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri will go to the polls in the first phase. The 10 promises announced included party convener Mamata Banerjee's oft-repeated assurance that there will be no Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Bengal. The promises will be fulfilled once the Trinamool forms the government in the Centre as part of the INDIA alliance, Trinamool leaders said asserting Trinamool's support to the Congress-led alliance in the Centre though there has been no alliance in the state. Dig Deeper

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: TMC releases its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: All India Trinamool Congress has released its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'BJP and RSS are trying to kill democracy in India,' says Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: While addressing a public rally in Karnataka’s Mandya, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “The election season is here, and it is a fight between two ideologies. On one side is the Congress party and INDIA alliance, which is fighting for the Indian Constitution and Democracy. On the other hand, we have the BJP and RSS which are trying to kill the Democracy and Constitution of the country. They are putting their people in every institution of the country.”

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'PM Modi is running a government, influenced by billionaires,' says Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: While addressing a public rally in Karnataka’s Mandya, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “PM Modi is running a government, influenced by billionaires and only works for 22-25 people in the country. Meanwhile, we run the government for common people, farmers and businessmen. During Karnataka elections, we promised ‘five guarantees’ to the people, and I can proudly say that our government has delivered on all the promises that we made.”

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Congress govt had 'loot east policy', says PM Modi

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: While addressing a public meeting in Tripura's Agartala, PM Modi said, "Today your mobile bill under the Modi government is ₹ 400- ₹ 500, but if there had been a Congress government in Delhi, your mobile bill would not have been less than ₹ 4000 or ₹ 5000...Earlier, political parties only remembered the North East when they needed your votes. During Congress' rule, only one policy was for the North East.- loot east policy..."

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'Communists ruled in Tripura and they just destroyed the people of Tripura,' says PM Modi

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: While addressing a public meeting in Tripura's Agartala, PM Modi said " North East plays a major role in making India 'Viksit'. After years of Independence and during the rule of Congress justice was not done with the capabilities of the states in North East. Communists ruled in Tripura and they just destroyed the people of Tripura. But, today in Delhi there is a government that continuously thinks about North East and Tripura. North East 'mere liye politics ka nahi, prem aur prathmikta ka vishaya hai'..."

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'During Congress government, several ministers didn't even know where Tripura is on India's map,' says PM Modi

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: While addressing a public meeting in Tripura's Agartala, PM Modi said "I have visited the Northeast more than 50 times. During Congress government, several ministers didn't even know where Tripura is on India's map. For Tripura, BJP means politics of development. But communists here had a history of 'politics of destruction'".

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'After 500 years Lord Ram is 'Virajman' in Ayodhya's temple,' says PM Modi

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: While addressing a public meeting in Tripura's Agartala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Today is the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami. After 500 years and a long wait, it is that Ram Navami when Lord Ram is 'Virajman' in Ayodhya's temple.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: 'This huge gathering shows that Tripura won't look back now,' says PM Modi

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: While addressing a public meeting in Tripura's Agartala, PM Modi said, "I extend my heartfelt wishes on the occasion of Ram Navami. This huge gathering shows that Tripura won't look back now,"

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: PM Modi to hold poll rally in Tripura's Agartala

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold public meeting in Tripura's Agartala

'Emotional': PM Narendra Modi after watching Ram Lalla's Surya Tilak on tablet

No discrimination in policies, benefits reach all citizens: PM Modi in Assam

Chandigarh Congress leadership goes in damage control mode

BJP was sending feelers... I was clear my future is in Congress: Vikramaditya Singh

Lok sabha elections 2024 live: pm modi echoes ‘jai shri ram’ on ram navami.

While addressing a rally in Assam, PM Modi commenced his speech with chants of Jai Shri Ram. He also asked people to swtich on the flashlights of their mobile phones as the 'Surya Tilak' ritual of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya was being performed.

Lok Sabha elections 2024 LIVE: Rahul Gandhi takes ‘Adani’ jibe at PM Modi

Rahul Gandhi said in his press conference, "In the last 10 years, PM Modi has reduced the system of employment generation by demonetization, by implementing the wrong GST and by supporting big billionaires like Adani. The first task is to once again strengthen employment, and for that, we have given 23 ideas in our manifesto. One idea is the revolutionary idea of the right to apprenticeship. We have decided that we will give the right to apprenticeship to all the graduates and diploma holders in Uttar Pradesh. There will be training and we will deposit ₹ 1 lakh per year in the bank accounts of the youth and we are giving these rights to crores of youth. We will make a law for paper leaks as well."

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: BJP eyes hattrick while Congress takes backseat

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has gone full-throttle with a high-voltage campaign, while the Congress seems to have adopted a subdued approach as the parties gear up for a three-cornered contest -- scheduled on April 19 and 26 -- in the Udhampur and Jammu constituencies. (PTI)

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: Akhilesh Yadav guarantees clean sweep for INDIA

Asserting that "winds of change" are blowing from western Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said there will be an INDIA bloc "clean sweep" from Ghaziabad to Ghazipur.

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: Rahul Gandhi on contesting polls from Amethi

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that he will “abide by party decisions” when it comes to contesting polls from his former stronghold Amethi, in Uttar Pradesh.

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: Rahul Gandhi attacks PM over electoral bonds scheme

Rahul Gandhi said during his press conference, “A few days ago, the Prime Minister gave a very long interview to ANI. It was scripted, but it was a flop show. The Prime Minister tried to explain electoral bonds in it. The Prime Minister said that the system of electoral bonds was brought for transparency, to clean politics. If this is true then why was that system cancelled by the Supreme Court. And secondly, if you wanted to bring transparency, why did you hide the names of those who gave money to BJP. And why did you hide the dates on which they gave you the money?”

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: Rahul Gandhi calls PM Modi's interview ‘scripted’

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in his press conference with Akhilesh Yadav that PM Modi's recent interview with ANI was allegedly scripted, and that the prime minister was the “master of corruption.”

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: Rahul Gandhi hits out at PM Modi over poverty

Criticising PM Modi's remarks on poverty, Rahul Gandhi said, “No one is saying poverty will be ended in one go, but we can make strong efforts for it.”

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: Rahul Gandhi-Akhilesh Yadav conference begins

Rahul Gandhi, while addressing the joint press conference with Akhilesh Yadav, claimed that BJP will only be limited to 150 seats while INDIA bloc will prevail with a vast majority.

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: EC issues notice to Telangana CM KCR

The Election Commission of India on Wednesday issued a notice to Bharat Rashtra Samiti President and former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao over his "derogatory" remarks for the Congress Party in a press conference. Acting on the complaint of Congress leader G Niranjan, the Election Commision noted that KCR had violated the Model Code of Conduct in his press meeting in Sircilla on April 5 while criticising the Congress party. (ANI)

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: TMC to release election manifesto today

The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress will release its election manifesto today, April 17, in five languages.

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: PM Modi extends Ram Navami greetings

PM Modi wrote on X on Wednesday, “This is the first Ram Navami when our Ram Lalla has been enthroned in the grand Ram temple of Ayodhya. Today, Ayodhya is in unparalleled joy in this celebration of Rama Navami. After waiting for 5 centuries, today we have the privilege of celebrating this Rama Navami in Ayodhya in this manner. This is the reward of so many years of hard penance and sacrifice by the countrymen.”

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: Rahul Gandhi to address two rallies in Karnataka

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address public meetings at Mandya and Kolar in Karnataka on Wednesday for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. According to Congress sources, he is scheduled to land in Bengaluru around 1.20 pm from where he will go to Mandya by a chopper and address a poll rally at around 2.10 pm. He will then fly to Kolar to address a public meeting at around 4 pm. (PTI)

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: Rahul-Akhilesh to hold joint conference

INDIA bloc leaders Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav will hold a joint press conference today in Uttar Pradesh to campaign for alliance's Ghaziabad candidate Dolly Sharma.

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: Meghalaya CM backs PM Modi on electoral bonds

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma backed PM Narendra Modi's stance on the electoral bonds scheme, saying that it was a path towards transparency when it comes to poll donations. 

Lok Sabha election 2024 LIVE: PM Modi to visit Assam today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Assam today to campaign for NDA Barpeta Lok Sabha constituency candidate Phani Bhushan Choudhury of the Asom Gana Parishad.

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