PM Narendra Modi likely to visit US for Quad meet on September 24!

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the US to meet President Joe Biden and participate in the Quad Summit-level meeting on September 24.

The visit was tentative after uncertainty over Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's visit given the volatile political situation in Tokyo.

Japan's PM Suga will visit Washington, US later this month for a meeting of Quad leaders from US, Japan, Australia & India, reported Reuters, quoting Kyodo News.

The Indian and Australian sides were waiting for the announcement by Japan. Preparations are underway for the Quadrilateral Leadership Summit of Australia, India, Japan and the US. An advance team is in Washington DC to finalise logistics for the same.

The US visit will mark PM Modi's first foreign visit in around six months. This will also be the first time he will be visiting the country after President Biden has assumed office.

It comes at a crucial juncture when the politics of the region has taken a serious turn to India's disadvantage with the fall of Kabul into the hands of the Taliban.

PM Modi is likely to leave for Washington DC on September 22.

According to sources, he will hold a bilateral meeting with President Biden on September 23 and the Quad Summit is likely to be held on September 24, after which he will leave for New York to address the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 25.

In an exclusive interview to India Today in June, Indian envoy to the US, Ambassador Taranjit Sandhu had said that the Indian premier would travel to the country if the health situation permits.

"At the Quad Virtual Leaders' Summit held in March this year, the leaders agreed to hold an in-person summit by the end of 2021," he had said.

There is likely to be a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UNGA as well.

The focus for India would primarily remain the developing situation in Afghanistan.

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