50 visits in 100 hours: Modi has his hands full during maiden US visit

Is expected to meet global leaders, CEOs to sell 'Make in India' plank

From delivering his maiden speech at the UN General Assembly to meeting President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have a full schedule during his upcoming visit to the US during which he is expected to honour more than 50 engagements over 100 hours of stay.

 

A hectic agenda awaits him as he will utilise his stay to meet top global leaders, address the Indian American community, make a speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and interact with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, in addition to his White House meeting with President Obama.

 

Through these engagements, Modi will try to sell his 'Make in India' vision.

 

In his interactions with top American CEOs, a majority of whom are said to be from Fortune 500 companies, the Prime Minister is expected roll out his policy of "red carpet and not red tape" to invite them to come, invest and make in India.

 

In his interaction with leaders like American business magnate and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Modi will be listening to his experience of smart cities.

 

In his address to nearly 20,000 Indian-Americans and in his subsequent meetings with the Indian diaspora, Modi is expected to seek their "partnership" to give India its due place in the international community.

 

Modi will also meet top American political leadership ranging from former US President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Indian-American South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

 

Modi will be hosted for tea by Speaker of the US House of Representatives John Boehner and more than 50 lawmakers during his stay in New York and Washington D.C.

 

In the US capital, there are also high expectations from Modi's meeting with President Obama. 

 

Obama has gone out of his way to host a rare private dinner for Modi at the White House on September 29, so as to establish a personal relationship with the Indian leader. However, reports say that Modi is unlikely to partake of it since he will be observing a nine-day fast to mark the Hindu period of Navratri. 

 

Ahead of his main summit at the White House on September 30, Modi will also visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and pay floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi's statue in front of the Indian Embassy.

 

This is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister will have so many public and private engagements during a US visit.