Diplomacy in high gear, PM Modi leaves for US

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 22

India will put its Covid-hit diplomacy in high gear during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five-day visit to Washington and New York.

Besides attending the in-person Quad summit, the PM will also hold bilaterals with Prime Ministers of Japan and Australia that were postponed due to calamities or illnesses. His one-on-one with US President Joe Biden too was becoming difficult to schedule due to shifting pandemic lockdowns.

With India worried over the overspill of radicalism and extremism from Afghanistan, the regional situation will form the crux of PM Modi’s discussions with Biden and at the Quad summit though the existential threat posed by China will remain an important point of the talks.

Doval, Shringla accompany PM

The PM is being accompanied by NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other high officials

Taking place after the AUKUS security arrangement was announced, the in-person format would help India seek answers on the Quad’s place in the US security architecture for the Indo-Pacific.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has already held a dozen bilateral meetings with his counterparts with Afghanistan being an important item, including the all-important issue of who will represent the country at the UN. Unlike the takeover of Kabul that blindsided most countries, there is time for consensus on the issue since the UN will take time to decide on the Taliban’s application for membership, US officials have said.

While PM Modi left for the US on Wednesday, Jaishankar participated in a G-20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting and held a joint interaction with his P-4 counterparts from Germany, Japan and Brazil to push for permanent seats in the UNSC.

The PM’s engagements in Washington also include his first meeting with US Vice-president Kamala Harris and a focused interaction with select CEOs of US MNCs, including Adobe, Apple, Blackstone and Qualcomm, unlike in 2019 when he addressed over 60 CEOs in three roundtables.

Modi will meet PMs Yoshihide Suga and Scott Morrison on Friday besides having an interaction with Biden on the current regional security situation. The US and India are on the same page in insisting the Taliban adhere to UNSC Resolution 2593 on the secure departure of civilians from Afghanistan, upholding human rights and going for an inclusive and negotiated settlement.

After concluding his engagements in Washington, Modi will travel to New York to attend the UN General Assembly on Saturday where he will address the general debate of the high-level segment of the 76th Session in the evening.

Modi’s last visit to the US was for over a week in 2019 during which he addressed the “Howdy Modi” event in Houston with then US President Donald Trump.

The PM is being accompanied by NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other high officials.

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