As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on his highly-anticipated US tour on Tuesday, there is a lot of speculation on who all have been invited to the State Dinner to be held on the White House lawns on Thursday.
The PM's four-day visit will see him attending official and diplomatic meetings, the state dinner, and sessions with the diaspora and business community.
Modi will take part in International Day of Yoga celebrations at UN Secretariat on Wednesday where he will be joined by several high-profile individuals. African-American actor and singer Mary Millben will also join the celebrations. She would also join the later diaspora event.
However, all eyes are on the State Dinner to be held on the White House lawns. As per reports, the guest list is a closely guarded secret and the office of the First Lady has not released any information yet. However, speculation is rife that some 400 people would be attending the luncheon being hosted in honour of the prime minister.
It is expected that the five Indian American Congressman Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna and Shri Thanedar have been invited to the State Dinner, along with some of the top Indian American CEOs including Satya Nadella from Microsoft, Sunder Pichai from Google, Raj Subramanian from FedEx, reported PTI.
Several eminent Indian American serving in the Biden Administration like Neera Tanden, Dr Vivek Murthy, and Dr Rahul Gupta are also expected to be attending the State Dinner.
Unity March held
Hundreds of Indian-Americans took out a unity march at Washington DC to welcome the Prime Minister on Sunday.
The marches were organised in 20 major cities across the US wherein Indian-Americans chanted 'Modi Modi,' 'Vande Mataram', and 'Vande America'. The participants were also seen dancing to the tunes of the song 'Har Har Modi', reported ANI. The unity marches were held near the National Monument in Washington DC, Times Square in New York and Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the report added.
Prime Minister Modi is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. They will host Modi at a state dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address to the Joint Session of the Congress on Thursday. He will address an invitation-only gathering of diaspora leaders from across the country at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington on Friday.
According to the organisers, these marches hinted at the popularity of the Prime Minister. "We are all here, the Indian diaspora in Washington DC, Maryland and all the surrounding cities, we are all here to celebrate the ‘Unity Day’ and the PM Modi joining American president Biden. So, this is a great event for all of us and a great moment for all of us," Ramesh Anam Reddy, one of the participants of the Unity Walk, told ANI.
Earlier on Saturday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasised that PM Modi’s state visit to the US will yield significant outcomes. Stressing the significance of PM Modi’s address to the US Congress, Jaishankar said PM's state visit was the highest level in terms of honour.
"Only a few people have been given this honour. It is happening for the first time that an Indian PM will address the US Congress for the second time. That’s why its importance is huge," he added.