NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to Washington for a meeting with President Donald Trump after attending the AI summit in Paris on February 10 and 11. While there has been no official confirmation from either the White House or the External Affairs Ministry, both sides are looking at February 13 and 14 as possible dates.
The Indian side has been eager for an early engagement between the two leaders, hoping that the strong personal rapport between Modi and Trump will help establish a foundation for deeper collaboration, especially as the new US administration begins implementing measures such as raising tariffs and cracking down on illegal immigration.
If these plans work out, the two leaders could hold discussions on February 13 to lay out the roadmap for their future cooperation. During his trip, the Prime Minister is also expected to hold meetings with business leaders.
The Prime Minister will be attending the AI Action Summit in France on February 10-11 at the Grand Palais. According to a statement from the Élysée Palace, the AI summit will gather heads of state and government, international organization leaders, business executives, academics, NGOs, artists, and civil society members. If the US trip is confirmed, Modi will be arriving in Washington on February 12 depending on his final engagements in France.
It would be the prime minister's first bilateral visit to the US after Trump assumed the presidency for a second term on January 20 following his stunning electoral victory in November.
Modi will be among a very handful of foreign leaders to travel to Washington DC on a bilateral visit within weeks after the Trump administration came to power.
Modi's visit to the US is taking place against the backdrop of concerns in India over the US President's approach on immigration and tariffs.
President Trump on Sunday announced imposing a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian and Mexican imports as well as an additional 10 per cent tax on Chinese goods.
Modi and Trump, during a phone conversation on January 27, vowed to work towards a "trusted" partnership with a focus on boosting India-US cooperation in areas of trade, energy and defence.
“The leaders (Modi and Trump) discussed plans for Prime Minister Modi to visit the White House, underscoring the strength of the friendship and strategic ties between our nations,” said the White House read out after the phone call between Modi and Trump on January 27.
President Trump has said that Prime Minister Modi was likely to visit the White House for a meeting in February. Speaking to reporters on aboard Air Force One, en route to Joint Base Andrews from Florida, Trump said on the day of his phone call with the Indian Prime Minister: “I had a long talk with him this morning. He is going to be coming to the White House, probably in February. We have a very good relationship with India.”
Meanwhile, New Delhi on Saturday announced plans to amend its nuclear liability law and set up a nuclear energy mission, a move that came ahead of Modi's trip to the US.
Certain clauses in India's Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 have emerged as hurdles in moving forward in implementation of the historic civil nuclear deal that was firmed up between the two strategic partners around 16 years back.
It is learnt that India is looking at the possibility of civil nuclear cooperation with the US in the small modular reactors (SMRs).
US-based Holtec International is known to be one of the leading exporters of SMRs globally and the Department of Atomic Energy is learnt to be interested in having some collaboration with the American firm.
(With inputs from PTI)