PM Modi to visit US in September, address major community event in New York | Latest News India

The theme of the event is “Modi and America: Progressing Together,” and its stated aim is to celebrate India and the United States and the cultural ethos of viewing the world as one family, diversity as strength, and the well-being of all people and the planet as an inspiration to build a better world together.

According to a source familiar with the matter, around 15,000 people are expected to attend the event, which will be unique and different in format, conduct and themes from previous events Modi has attended in the US. The main objective of the event is to celebrate the diaspora, its progress, its future and its ties with India. Aware that the event is being scheduled in the middle of the US election season, unlike in the past, the organisers intend to keep it apolitical. No elected officials will be invited to the event this time.

This is the fifth time Modi has addressed the Indian American community at an event. In 2014, he spoke at Madison Square Garden in New York to tens of thousands of Indian Americans and dozens of elected officials, including congressmen and senators. In 2015, he addressed Indians in San Jose, California, with a focus on the Silicon Valley tech community and West Coast political leaders. In 2017, Modi addressed community leaders at a smaller event in Washington, DC. In 2019, a year before the last presidential election, Modi and then-US President Donald Trump addressed the largest-ever gathering of Indian Americans in Houston, an event that drew criticism from Democrats who saw India taking sides in the election, a perception Delhi has had to work hard to counter.

During his state visit to the US last year, 8,000 Indian-Americans attended the welcoming ceremony at the White House itself, while Modi addressed Indian-American professionals at the Kennedy Center and addressed another community event at the Reagan Center in Washington DC, both of much smaller scale.

This year, Modi’s event comes at a time when the US election has a strong Indian-American dimension. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris identifies as both Black and Indian-American; her mother was Tamil and emigrated from India in 1958. Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s wife is Usha Vance, the daughter of immigrants from Andhra Pradesh. The Indian-American community remains overwhelmingly Democratic, according to a 2020 survey by political scientists Devesh Kapur, Milan Vaishnav and Sumitra Badrinathan. And while there has been a slight shift toward Republicans in recent years, Harris’s nomination has galvanized the community in support of the Democratic ticket.

Those familiar with the developments are keen to point out that Modi's event has nothing to do with the US elections or the participation and preferences of Indian-Americans in the elections. It is simply about celebrating the bonds between our countries in the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and the ideas of one land, one family and one future, the person quoted above said.

The official purpose of Modi’s visit is to attend the Future Summit, a flagship event hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his final year in office. Guterres has supported India’s aspirations in recent years, including its G20 presidency. He traveled to Gujarat to attend the launch of Mission LIFE, Modi’s personal environmental initiative aimed at tackling the climate crisis by encouraging lifestyle change, and embraced India’s digital public infrastructure as a model to emulate.

Modi could also address the UN General Assembly on September 26, according to a provisional list of speakers for the general debate released by the UN last month.

Modi is also expected to hold a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit. While India is expected to host the Quad leaders’ summit this year, given the vagaries of the political calendar in the various member states – India held elections earlier this year, there is political instability in Japan with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announcing his decision to resign, and it is unclear if and when President Joe Biden will be able to visit India. There has also been speculation that the meeting could be held in New York itself.

The community event is being organized by the Indian-American Diaspora Association (IADA), which describes itself as a nonprofit organization that fosters Indian-American cooperation to advance shared values ​​of democracy, inclusive economic development, and mutual respect. The event website states that community donations will cover the event’s costs, and that registration is open to partner organizations that wish to participate.