The United States has said that it is looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington, but has refrained from announcing a date for the visit which is widely expected to take place in the last week of September.
“As President Obama and Secretary Kerry both said, we look forward to welcoming the Prime Minister to Washington,” State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters on Thursday. She, however, declined to go into likely dates of the visit, saying: “Nothing to announce on timing at this point.”Scheduling of the visit is expected to be one of the subjects that will come up during the meetings that Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal, the Obama administration’s point person for South Asia, will be holding in New Delhi over the next few days.
As the first senior US official to visit New Delhi for interactions with the Modi Government, the Gujarat-born Biswal is expected to hold consultations on setting a broad agenda to reset the bilateral ties which have been in a state of drift for the past several months, exacerbated by the Devyani Khobragade episode last December.“We’re still putting together her schedule of meetings, and when it’s finalised we’ll share it with folks,” Harf said when asked if Biswal would be calling on the Prime Minister
Both sides also have to decide the time and venue of the annual US-India Strategic Dialogue, which in the normal course should be held in Washington at this time of the year. Held alternately in the two capitals, the previous round was held in New Delhi last June.
Since the Modi Government has just about taken office, Senator Mark Warner, the Democratic co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, has mooted the idea of this round of the strategic dialogue also being held in New Delhi. As he put it at a Washington event this week, “Holding the Dialogue in Delhi will be less disruptive to organising meetings and will provide both sides the opportunity to meet and get to work early in the term on joint initiatives.”
It will also afford an opportunity to Secretary of State John Kerry to visit New Delhi and meet the senior leaders of the Modi Government. Kerry had gone on record soon after the BJP-led NDA’s victory to say that he looks forward to be in New Delhi soon.