Zee Media Bureau/Deepak Nagpal Monday, September 29, 2014 - 15:15
New York/Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first leg of the US visit has been an overwhelming success.
After receiving a rousing welcome upon landing in New York last Friday, connecting with the world through his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, and charming Indian-Americans at an unprecedented gathering at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, PM Modi heads to Washington on Monday for talks with Obama.
Before leaving for the US capital, Modi will on Monday morning meet CEOs of top 11 American firms, including Eric Schmidt of Google, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo and Ajaypal Singh Banga of Mastercard, over breakfast in New York
He will also have one-on-one meetings with six CEOs - W James McNerney Jr (Boeing), Laurence D Fink (BlackRock), Ginni Rometti (IBM), Jeff Immelt (General Electric) and Lloyd C Blankfein (Goldman Sachs)
president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton in New York City.
Post that meeting, the Indian prime minister will travel to Washington, DC, where he will meet President Barack Obama over private dinner.
PM Modi, however, will not sample the food as he is currently fasting due to the ongoing Navratri festival. Ever since his arrival in the US, Modi has been consuming only lemonade and tea.
The meeting between PM Modi and President Obama over dinner Monday night will aim to break the ice – it comes after years of denial of visa to Modi as Gujarat's chief minister over his alleged failure to curb the spread of 2002 riots.
The substantial part of the trip will happen on Tuesday when Modi will meet Obama at the Oval Office for the summit meeting. It is rare for a visiting dignitary to meet President Obama twice during a single visit.
Modi and Obama are expected to discuss economic growth and cooperation in the areas of security, clean energy and climate change.
On agenda will also be regional security concerns, including Afghanistan, where the US is winding up its 13-year military involvement, and Syria and Iraq, where America is ramping up its military engagement to target Islamic State militants.
Apart from the official agenda, both the leaders will also seek to build personal rapport; it may be recalled that the US President was among the first world leaders to ring the Indian PM after BJP swept to power in May.
Besides meeting Obama, PM Modi will also attend a State Department lunch with Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday.
He will also visit the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King memorial and Mahatma Gandhi statue in Washington.
Also on Tuesday's itinerary are meetings with some 300 members of the US-India Business Council, with House Speaker John Boehner, and with Maryland Governor Martin O’ Malley.
He is also expected to attend a function to be hosted by the Clinton foundation before wrapping up his five-day US visit.
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