President Donald Trump will be visiting Ahmedabad, the main city in Gujarat.
U.S. President Donald Trump will begin his maiden trip to India on Monday, becoming the Seventh American president to visit the country.
Mr. Trump’s two-day visit is designed to partially tickle his vanity, but, as importantly, it is to boost his chances of returning to office in the 2020 US general election. Besides wife Melania, he will be accompanied by his daughter Ivanka Trump and his husband, Jared Kushner. This would make the trip one of the few times that Mr.Trump has traveled officially with so many members of his family.
He will visit three cities in India: the national capital, Delhi; Agra, where he will see the Taj Mahal; and Ahmedabad, the main city in the western state of Gujarat, Trump will motorcade directly to the new Motera Stadium, where he is expected to address an audience of more than 100,000 people in an event aptly called “NAMASTE TRUMP.” That will provide Trump the popular adulation he has long sought on the world stage and imagery he can utilize in his re-election campaign.
It can only be hoped that between dance performances in Ahmedabad and long walks up to the Taj, Mr. Modi and Donald Trump find time to discuss the world as it is, and the real potential in the US-India relationship.
“World’s largest democracy meets the world’s oldest democracy.”
“World’s largest democracy meets the world’s old democracy,” reads the welcome daubed in bright letters across a newly built wall in Ahmedabad. Ironically, Modi has constructed a government wall for Trump’s arrival to enclose and partially block the president’s passing view of a dismal slum with more than 2,000 residents near the new stadium. It will be a fleeting trip – lasting less than 36 hours
, but Donald Trump’s arrival in India on Monday on his first official visit has prompted a frenzied, costly, and controversial beautification drive by authorities.
This 2 meters (6ft) wall has been a particular point of contention.
‘May this friendship last forever.’
U.S. exports to India have slowed in recent months, widening the trade deficit, and Modi has turned out to be more protectionist than the White House anticipated, hiking tariffs and customs duties, advancing a personal data-protection bill, e-commerce regulations and taking steps to close some markets. If the two leaders announce progress in some areas, perhaps on medical devices or agricultural products, it could allow them to paper over lingering differences with a marginal step forward.
In the absence of a major announcement on trade, Trump and Modi plan to finalize smaller agreements by India to purchase $3.5 billion in defense equipment, including helicopters manufactured by Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
Media reports suggested a ‘trade package’ might be in the offing, but both sides did not want to rush into finalizing a trade deal, as a decision would be taken considering a long term review.
Speaking on the Trump visit, Shringla said the US President would be accompanied by a high-level delegation. Trump is scheduled to appear at “NAMASTE TRUMP” event in Ahmedabad, which Shringla compared to last year’s “HOWDY MODI” event in Houston.
The Foreign Secretary also said: “India and US have unprecedented level of convergence….. PM Modi will host a lunch for Trump, while President Kovind will host a banquet”.
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