US President Donald Trump is likely to visit India next month. During the visit, Trump may hold an event similar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Howdy, Modi!” in Houston, stated reports.
According to the Hindustan Times, Trump’s visit will happen in February, although the dates are still being worked on. People familiar with the matter told the leading that the visit will be a stand-alone one, extend across three days, and will involve Trump visiting one Indian city apart from New Delhi. Ahmedabad will likely be the city where Trump will likely hold a Houston-like event, a person familiar with the matter told the leading daily.
India had invited Trump to grace the Republic Day parade as the chief guest last year but the US President could not come due to scheduling issues. During his visit to the US in September last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reminded Trump of his invitation to him to visit India along with his family.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh during their visit to Washington last month conveyed to the US side that India was waiting to host President Trump. Trump will seek re-election in presidential polls scheduled to take place in November.
Last week, Trump and Modi held a telephonic conversation during which they discussed ways to further strengthen the US-India strategic partnership. The conversation came in the backdrop of escalating tensions in the Gulf region after the US killed top Iranian commander General Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad.
(Inputs from Agencies)