Narendra Modi Left For 7 day Visit to the United States for 'Howdy Modi' and UN General Assembly

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has left for a week-long tour to the United States to address the Indian diaspora at Houston and later, the United National General Assembly (UNGA) session. In the US till September 28, PM Modi, in his address at the UNGA session, will not bring up terrorism or Pakistan, but focus on India’s achievements and its global role, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had said on Thursday.

Narendra Modi also ahead of his visit to the US on Friday, through his tweets, did not hint at talks on terrorism at the global forum. Notably, India has maintained that Jammu and Kashmir was an internal issue and hence, off the agenda at the UN.

Not only will Modi address the UNGA session, but will hold a bilateral meeting with the US President Donald Trump in New York on September 24. Further, on September 22, Modi is scheduled to attend ‘Howdy, Modi’ event at Houston where he will address Indian-Americans.

During his stay, Modi intends to hold as many as 20 bilateral meetings with leaders from all continents, Gokhale said, adding that the meetings are being finalised.

Amidst attempts by Pakistan to internationalise Kashmir issue, especially after Article 370 provisions were abrogated, Gokhale said, “If they wish to dwell on this issue in the speech by their Prime Minister, they are welcome to do so.”

“Article 370 is an internal issue, there will be no discussion on it in the UN, we will have no discussion on it,” he said when asked if India would share its perspective during his high-level bilateral and multilateral meetings in the US.