Narendra Modi accepts Barack Obama's invite to visit US in late September
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted US President Barack Obama's invitation for a meeting in late September and the dates are being finalised.
The invitation for the meeting came during the congratulatory call to Modi by Obama after the Lok Sabha election results were out.
"A date was offered by the US side for the meeting and both the countries are working on it," official sources said.
It is understood that Washington has proposed September 30 as the date for the meeting but the Indian side is looking at clubbing the bilateral meeting with Modi's visit to the US for the United Nations General Assembly around September 26.
Obama was among the first foreign leaders to call up Modi and congratulated him on his "emphatic election victory" and said the largest democracy in the world has given a "decisive mandate".
The US President also wished that under Modi's leadership, India will contribute significantly at the global stage.
Both the leaders had discussed the India-US Strategic Partnership and the prevailing global economic situation.
The call was the first high-level contact between Modi and the US leadership ever since 2005 when the Gujarat chief minister had been denied a US visa due to his alleged complicity in the 2002 riots in the state.
Industry body Ficci said Modi's visit to the US is likely to serve as a platform for taking the Indo-US relations to a new level, besides resolving outstanding issues like the impact of immigration reforms on Indian IT sector, among others.
"We believe this visit will pave the way for expanding and deepening the wide-ranging cooperation between our two democracies. Indian businesses hope this visit could lay the ground for resolution of outstanding issues in a constructive manner," Ficci President Sidharth Birla said on Thursday.
"It will be a good time to discuss long pending issues such as regulatory ones with Indian Pharma & Food companies, impact of immigration reforms on Indian IT industry, downgrading of India safety ranking in aviation and other key impediments to strategic cooperation between India and the US," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted US President Barack Obama's invitation for a meeting in late September and the dates are being finalised.
The invitation for the meeting came during the congratulatory call to Modi by Obama after the Lok Sabha election results were out.
It is understood that Washington has proposed September 30 as the date for the meeting but the Indian side is looking at clubbing the bilateral meeting with Modi's visit to the US for the United Nations General Assembly around September 26.
