Indian Premier Modi to meet with Trump next week in Washington

NEW DELHI

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay an official visit to the US and meet with President Donald Trump, an official said on Friday.

Modi will pay an official working visit to the US on Feb. 12 and 13 at the invitation of Trump, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a press conference in New Delhi.

Stating that this will be the first visit of Prime Minister Modi to the US since the inauguration of the second presidential term of President Trump, Misri said Modi “would be amongst the first few world leaders to visit the US following the inauguration of US President Trump.”

“The fact that the prime minister has been invited to visit the US within barely three weeks of the new administration taking office, shows the importance of the India-US partnership and is also reflective of the bipartisan support, that this partnership enjoys in the US,” he said, adding that the visit will be a “valuable opportunity to engage the new administration on all areas of mutual interest.”

The visit of the Indian leader comes as the South Asian nation said that it was in discussions with the US government following outrage over the "mistreatment" of 104 deported citizens who arrived in Indian Punjab state on Wednesday.

The deportees reported being handcuffed and shackled throughout the journey. In response, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told parliament that New Delhi was “engaging with the US government to ensure that deported citizens are not mistreated in any way during their flight.” 

Asked about the mistreatment, Foreign Secretary Misri described it “a valid issue to raise” and said: “We continue to emphasize to US authorities that there should be no mistreatment of deportees.”

“We will continue to take up any instances of mistreatment that come to our attention,” he said.

Before the US visit, Prime Minister Modi will visit France from Feb. 10-12, the official also said.

“This visit is on the occasion of the organization of the Artificial Intelligence Summit that France is organizing and the prime minister will co-chair this summit alongside President Macron of France,” he said.