Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit the US in September for the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting and is likely to address Indian-Americans in Houston during his trip, community leaders said on Thursday.
According to community sources quoted by PTI, Modi is likely to travel to New York from Houston to address a special meeting of the UN on climate change on September 23.
However, no official announcement has been made on the trip yet. If the visit is on, it will be Modi’s first visit to the US after coming to power for the second consecutive term.
Houston is the energy capital of the world. Energy security is a priority area for the Prime Minister.
This would be Modi’s third major address to the Indian-American community after he became the Prime Minister in 2014. The previous two being at the Madison Square Garden in New York in 2014 and Silicon Valley in 2016. Both the events were attended by more than 20,000 people.
The UN push on climate change is shaping up amid geopolitical shifts. The United States under Donald Trump has decided to pull out of the Paris agreement to combat global warming, giving China more space to assert its views.
Trump announced in 2017 that the United States would exit the Paris agreement, but under the terms of the deal, the withdrawal will only become effective in 2020.
The US administration is not taking part in summit preparations but has not said it will skip the event, according to UN officials.
Meanwhile, the government on Friday announced that India and the United States will continue discussions over bilateral trade-related issues.
According to the Central government, both sides have agreed to continue “their discussions for achieving mutually beneficial outcomes aimed at further growing the economic relationship and addressing mutual trade concerns”.
PM Modi and US President Donald Trump had met last month on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Japan’s Osaka and discussed various bilateral and global issues including Iran, 5G communications networks, trade and defence.
At a press briefing, Modi and Trump agreed that they would meet at an early date to try and sort out issues pertaining to trade between the two countries.