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BIG STORY JUNE 30, 2023 | The Indian Eye 5

In a special address during the later held bilateral talks with PM
State Dinner at the White House, Modi.
Biden said, “Jill and I have had a While POTUS (code name for
wonderful time with the Prime Min- the US president) is hosting his third
ster today, during your truly produc- State guest, it is the largest so far,
tive visit. Tonight, we celebrate the considering the sheer numbers on
great bonds of friendship between the South Lawns of the White House
India and the United States.” to welcome PM Modi on Thursday.
Earlier, US President Joe Biden Earlier, Modi on Thursday high-
and First Lady Jill Biden welcomed lighted “India’s unity in diversity,” at
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the historic address to the joint sit-
the White House for the State din- ting of the US Congress. “India is the
ner. Amongst the US officials who home to all faiths in the world and
arrived at the White House for the we celebrate all of them. In India, di-
State Dinner was the US Secretary versity is a natural way of life, today
of Commerce Gina Raimondo, US the world wants to know more and
Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, more about India,” said PM Modi.
and US Ambassador to India, Eric Speaking about Indian diversity, he
Garcetti. said, “We have over 2500 political
US House Speaker Kevin Mc- Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves while addressing the joint sitting of the US Congress in parties...About 20 different parties
Carthy also arrived at the White presence of Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy and other dignitaries govern various states of India. We
House for the event and said that have 22 official languages and thou-
India and US have a very strong re- at Capitol Hill, in Washington DC on Friday (ANI Photo) sands of dialects, yet we speak in one
lationship. Mahindra Group Chair- voice. Every 100 miles our cuisine
man Anand Mahindra, Chairman 2014, on a working visit. This visit and the strong Indo-US relationship. changes, from dosa to aloo paratha.”
and managing director of Reliance was significant as he also delivered In 2017, PM Modi went to the He said that today, the world
Industries Mukesh Ambani and his maiden speech at the 69th ses- US on a three-day visit. He was wants to know more and more about
wife Nita Ambani were amongst sion of the United Nations General hosted by the then President Don- India. “I see that curiosity in this
the Indian business tycoons who Assembly. ald Trump at the White House for house, too. We were honored to re-
arrived at the White House for the He visited the US again in 2016, a ‘working dinner’. During this visit, ceive around 100 members of the US
State Dinner. for the Nuclear Security Summit. Prime Minister Modi also addressed Congress over the last decade. Ev-
Furthermore, Indra Nooyi, for- During this visit, he also met then- the Indian diaspora at the Ritz Carl- eryone wants to understand India’s
mer Chairperson and CEO of Pep- US President Barack Obama at the ton in Tysons Corner, Virginia. development, democracy and diver-
siCo also reached the White House White House and held bilateral talks. His visit in 2019 was one of his sity,” said Modi.
for the State Dinner. Several CEOs In the same year, PM Modi em- most significant, as he addressed He arrived at the US House
were also among the invitees to the barked on another visit to the US. the Indian-American community in of Representatives, where he ad-
State dinner. Microsoft CEO Satya During this visit, he delivered his Houston at an event named ‘Howdy dressed the joint session of the US
Nadella and Google CEO Sundar maiden address at the US Congress Modi!’ The event was attended by Congress shortly.
Pichai were in attendance. Zerodha and spoke on a range of topics in- 50,000 people and also addressed by PM Modi said that it is always a
Co-Founder Nikhil Kamath was also cluding terrorism, climate change then-President Donald Trump, who great honor to address the US Con-
on the guest list, amongst many. gress.
A ‘state visit’ holds a special sig- “It is an exceptional privilege to
nificance as compared to other for- do so twice. For this honor, I extend
eign visits, as this is a formal visit by my deepest gratitude to the 1.4 bil-
the head of state to a foreign coun- lion people of India. I see that nearly
try at the invitation of the head of half of you were here in 2016. I can
state hosting him. The visit signifies also see the enthusiasm of the old
the highest expression of friendly friends and the new friends in the
bilateral ties between two sovereign other half,” said Prime Minister Na-
nations. Also, during a State visit, rendra Modi.
the leader extending the invitation He said that our era is at a cross-
acts as the official host of the visiting roads and he is speaking about the
head of state through the course of calling for this century. “Standing
the trip. here seven Junes ago, when Hamil-
A ‘state visit’ holds a special sig- ton swept all the awards, I said that
nificance as compared to other for- the hesitations of history were be-
eign visits, as this is a formal visit by hind us. Now, when our era is at a
the head of state to a foreign country crossroads, I am here to speak about
at the invitation of the head of state our calling for this century,” he said.
hosting him. Modi further highlighted many
The visit signifies the highest ex- advances made in AI- Artificial In-
pression of friendly bilateral ties be- telligence. “In the past few years,
tween two sovereign nations. Also, there have been many advances in
during a State visit, the leader ex- AI- Artificial Intelligence. At the
tending the invitation acts as the offi- same time, there has been even more
cial host of the visiting head of state Prime Minister Narendra Modi with President of the USA, Joe Biden and US First Lady Jill momentous development in another
through the course of the trip. Biden at White House Arrival Ceremony, in Washington DC on Thursday (ANI) AI- America and India,” he added.
PM Modi first visited the US in Continued on next page... >>

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