Why is PM Modi heading to US for a state visit crucial?

PM Modi is scheduled for a state visit to the United States next month at the invitation of President Joe Biden. This will mark Modi’s first state visit after taking over as India’s Prime Minister, despite having embarked on multiple foreign trips in the US in the past. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will also host a state dinner for PM Modi on June 22, which has triggered a wide-scale discussion on the future of India and the USA’s strategic partnership.  

India’s reluctance to criticise its long-standing partner Russia for the ongoing Ukraine crisis had raised doubts about the friendship between the two big democracies, and experts had indicated that the United States would maintain a distance from India. However, the Biden administration has signalled with this state dinner that both sides are willing to put aside differences of opinion for a long-term partnership that would benefit both sides. Whether it be economic interests, countering China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific or improving people-to-people relations by improving visa cooperation, President Biden and PM Modi both have a big scope in increasing mutual benefit, which makes this state visit more crucial than ever.   

Image source: PTI