US eager to welcome Modi, no announcement of timing yet

Washington: The United States is looking forward to welcoming the new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington, but refrained from making any announcement on the possible trip in September. [caption id=“attachment_1558723” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Narendra Modi (left) and US president Barack Obama are set to meet in September.[/caption] “We look forward to welcoming the prime minister to Washington, nothing to announce on timing at this point,” the State Department Deputy Spokesperson, Marie Harf, told reporters on Thursday at her daily press conference. “I don’t have any more details. We said we look forward to welcoming him,” Harf reiterated when pressed further. Earlier last month, US Secretary of State John Kerry had welcomed Narendra Modi to US during his meeting with the Indian Ambassador to the United States S Jaishankar. The Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal is scheduled to hold meetings in New Delhi over the next several days establishing the first high level contact between the Obama Administration and the Modi Government after the latter came back to power on 26 May. Biswal, who is Obama Administration’s point person for South and Central Asia, reached New Delhi Friday from China. “Some very productive consultations w (with) my Chinese counterparts on regional connectivity,” Biswal tweeted.

In a statement, the North American Punjabi Association welcomed the purposed meeting between Modi and Obama in Washington in September. “This meeting is a step in national interest,” said Satnam Singh Chahal, its executive director. NAPA, he said, will write to Modi to raise the issue of Security and Safety of Sikhs residing in the United States. PTI