Modi -Trump bilateral meet is slated to be significant

Bilateral dialogue between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald   J Trump is expected to be focused on expanding defence cooperation and trade. PM Modi is also expected to convey India’s concern over H 1B Visa at their fifth meet at Hyderabad House on February 25, Tuesday. POTUS Trump, who is contesting for another term of four years in the fabled White House to get elected, has said trade deal with India will be finalized after Presidential poll. He will arrive in Ahmedabad on February 24 to commence his first official visit to India with his spouse Melania Trump, the First Lady of United States, their daughter Ivanka, her husband Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor the Trump Administration and a host of officials.   After landing in Ahmedabad International Airport around noon on February 24 President Trump along with Prime Minister Narendra will inaugurate the world’s biggest stadium renamed as Sardar Patel Stadium and later visit Sabarmati Ashram associated with Mahatma Gandhi. He along with his entourage will fly to Agra where they will spend an hour at India’s iconic monument Taj Mahal before the sunset. Uttar Pradesh Chie Minister Yogi Adityanath will receive them. The same day they will return to Delhi and on February 25, PM Modi and President Trump will have intensive bilateral summit at the Hyderabad House. In Ahmedabad, there will be a grand spectacle called “Namaste Trump” to welcome him showcasing India’s rich and diverse culture that will have few parallels in India or elsewhere”. “US President Trump will land in Ahmedabad around noon, from there he will go to the renovated Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium to address the ‘Namaste Trump’ event. The route from the airport to the stadium — we expect a large number of people will line-up,” Spokesperson for India’s External Affairs Ravish Kumar said. Talking of the route from the Ahmedabad airport to the stadium, he said, “We expect a large number of people lined up along the route”. So far, 28 stages have been set up which will represent various parts of the country, on which artistes will be performing. “The roadshow will feature Mahatma Gandhi’s life and we are expecting large number of people to greet President Trump outside the stadium,” Ravish Kumar added. The programme at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium located at Motera  will be like the “Howdy Modi” event held in Houston on September 22 last, he said referring to the mega programme where President Trump had shared stage with the Prime Minister and addressed the assembled Indians. More than 50,000 people are expected to line up along the 22-kilometre route that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump will follow during their road show in Ahmedabad, Mayor Bijal Patel said on Friday. President Trump and PM Modi will first reach the Sabarmati Ashram, a place closely associated with Mahatma Gandhi. From Sabarmati Ashram, they will take the SP Ring Road via the Indira Bridge near the airport to reach the newly built cricket stadium in Motera, she Patel said. “It will be a 22-km-long roadshow, perhaps the longest roadshow ever held in the city. As per our estimate, over 50,000 people, including BJP workers, would greet the leaders on the entire route. Trump benefits from the fact that many Indians have a “very positive attitude toward Americans,” as well as the “celebrity component,” said Milan Vaishnav, who heads the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Other than a few missteps — such as his offer to mediate the Kashmir dispute — Trump has been “broadly favorable to India’s regional interests,” he said.Modi has cultivated a relationship with Trump even as tensions over trade have flared.  India and the United States have intensified their military and security cooperation in recent years as both are scared China’s geo-political game. Describing it as a significant visit, Mukesh Aghi, president of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum, noted that the last three American presidents had made trips to India. “It’s essential to send a message to the region that India is a significant partner and the president values that,” Aghi told PTI. India has a role to play not only in its immediate neighbourhood but in making sure that the South China Sea and the Indo Pacific region is part of the international global order, he said.(edited by PK Chakravarty  with courtesy to BBC for the image )