Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a packed schedule of 35 engagements, including an address to the UN General Assembly and a much-anticipated summit meeting with US President Barack Obama, during his Sep 26-30 visit to the US.
Modi, who would be observing the nine-day Navratri fast during his trip, would also be holding three bilateral meetings with neighbours - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He would also be meeting the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and former US president Bill Clinton and his wife and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Modi would be meeting the CEOs of top US companies, including Boeing, Pepsico, Google, General Electric and Goldman Sachs among others. His visit to Washington, Sep 29-30, would also see a dinner date with President Obama on Sep 29.
Trade and investment, energy, science and technology, defence and security are expected to be the areas of focus during their talks.
Modi is also to pay homage at the 9/11 memorial in New York and meet 300 members of the Indian American business community. He would also address the large Indian community at Madison Square.
His interactions in the US would be with the US political leaders, and administration, with the business community, civil society, with the US states and cities and the vibrant Indian diaspora, said external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin at a briefing here.
Modi's address at the UN General Assembly is expected to address issues important to India, including expansion and reform of the UN Security Council, especially keeping in mind the 70th anniversary of the UN that falls in 2015 and on its peacekeeping operations. India is one of the largest contributors to the UN peacekeeping force.
During his visit to Washington, Modi would also meet Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, the Clintons, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner among others.
Akbaruddin said India expects "substantive outcome" from Modi's first visit to the US as prime minister.
Modi's itinerary:
Sep 26: Arrives in New York, stays at New York Palace Hotel; Mayor de Blasio calls on Modi. Meets Nobel Prize-winning scientist Harold Eliot Varmus, director of the National Cancer Institute.
Sep 27: Visits Ground Zero and 9/11 memorial; participates in General Debate of 69th session of UN General Assembly - theme "Delivering on and implementing a Transformative Post-2015 Development Agenda"; bilateral meetings with Ban ki-Moon, Rajapaksa, Koirala and Sheikh Hasina; to meet former mayor Michael Bloomberg; addresses annual Global Citizen Festival at Central Park; meets group of eminent Indian-Americans. Modi would also meet the governors of three US states - New York's Andrew Cuomo; South Carolina's Nikki Haley and Maryland's Martin O'Malley.
Sep 28: Addresses Indian-American community reception at Madison Square Garden in midtown Manhattan; meet representatives of the Sikh community in the US and Canada.
Modi would meet 10 distinguished Persons of Indian Origin. He will also meet members of the US Jewish community and attend a dinner reception at The Pierre, a luxurious heritage hotel owned by India's Taj hotels, hosted by Indian Ambassador to the US, S.A Jaishankar. The dinner reception would be attended by Indian Americans and Persons of Indian Origin.
Sep 29: Breakfast meeting with top CEOs of 11 US companies and later one-on-one meetings with six CEOS. The companies include Boeing, Pepsico, General Electric, Google, Goldman Sachs. Individual meetings with eminent persons and with the intelligentsia; meet the Clintons in the morning; address Council on Foreign Relations, a leading think tank; leaves for Washington.
Arrives in Washington in the afternoon, checks into Blair House, presidential state guest house across the street from the White House; private dinner with President Obama at the White House.
Sep 30: Visit Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr memorial and Gandhi statue in front of the Indian embassy in Washington; formal summit meeting with Obama at the White House; lunch with Biden and Kerry at the State Department;
Meeting on Capitol Hill with Congressional leaders hosted by Speaker Boehner; Reception and policy address to the US-India Business Council (USIBC); leaves for India.
