WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit the United States yet again in June, his fourth trip to the country in two years. However, this time it will be a state visit in a strictly bilateral context aimed at consecrating ties that US President Barack Obama has described as the “defining relationship of the 21st century”.
State visits are generally considered to be the highest expression of friendly bilateral relations between two sovereign states. They are characterized by pomp, ceremony, and a formal dinner banquet to express lofty sentiments, and often, an expansive vision. US presidents use the State visit instrument to honor the country’s allies and woo its friends — and occasionally adversaries.
President Obama has hosted ten such state visits, including two for China (Hu Jintao in 2011 and Xi Jinping in 2015) and one each for unquestionable allies and immediate neighbors: Mexico’s Felipe Calderon, Germany’s Angela Merkel, South Korea’s Lee Myung Bak, Britain’s David Cameron, France’s Francois Hollande, Japan’s Shinzo Abe, and Canada’s Justin Trudeau.
The very first state guest at the Obama White House was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2009. The US president appears to want to put his seal on the India relationship by bookending his Presidency with another state banquet for an Indian leader, since Modi’s is likely to be the last state visit in the Obama White House. Edited this post again and tried to get some more tags. Edited this post again and tried to get some more tags.
