Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he was looking forward to his meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington for an in-depth exchange of views on further consolidating the robust and wide-ranging partnership between India and the United States.
Modi, who is embarking on his visit to Portugal, the US and the Netherlands on Saturday, noted that he had spoken to President Trump on telephone prior to the upcoming meeting. "Our conversations have touched upon our common intent to take forward our productive all round engagement for the mutual benefit of our people.’’
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He said India’s partnership with the US was multi-layered and diverse, supported by not just governments but all the stakeholders on both sides. He said he looked forward to building a forward-looking vision for the partnership with the new US administration under President Trump.
Apart from official meetings with Trump and his cabinet colleagues, he said he would be meeting some prominent American CEOs. "As in the past, I look forward to interacting with the Indian diaspora in the US as well."
Modi said on his way to the US, he would pay a working visit to Portugal on Saturday and observed that close historical and friendly ties between the two nations had picked up momentum after Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s visit to India in January.
He said he looked forward to talks with Costa to review the progress of various joint initiatives and decisions. "We will also discuss ways to further enhance the bilateral engagement, especially in the areas of economic cooperation, science and technology, space collaboration and people to people ties," he said the two countries would deliberate on means to intensify cooperation in counter-terrorism and on other international issues of mutual interest. He would also interact with the Indian Community in Portugal.
On his way back home from Washington, Modi said he would visit the Netherlands on 27 June. The visit comes when the two countries are celebrating 70 years of the establishment of Indo-Dutch diplomatic relations.
During the visit, he would have an official meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on important bilateral and global issues, including climate change and counter-terrorism. He would also be meeting with CEOs of major Dutch companies to encourage them to join the Indian growth story. He would engage with the Indian community in the Netherlands.