Modi in US, Trump Says Will Discuss Key Strategic Issues With 'True Friend'

New Delhi/Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the United States on Sunday for the second leg of his three-nation tour for his first bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump, as the two leaders are set to hold discussions on a set of "strategically important" issues.

Modi arrived in the American capital after a day-long working visit to Portugal, the first ever bilateral visit by an Indian PM to the European nation.

On Sunday, the PM will interact with about 20 leading American CEOs followed by an Indian-American community event in the DC suburb of Virginia. The programme is likely to be attended by about 600 members of the community, PTI reported.

Trump will host Modi at the White House on Monday afternoon and the two leaders would spend about five hours together in various settings beginning with their bilateral discussion, delegation level talks, a reception and a working dinner, the first of its kind hosted by this administration.

The Trump administration said it is rolling out the "red carpet" for Modi, emphasising that it is wrong to say that the US is ignoring or not focusing on India. "President Trump realises that India is a force for good and that will come through in the visit on Monday," a senior official said.

A host of strategic issues are expected to be discussed during the bilateral talks between the two leaders of the world's largest democracies, including defence cooperation, boosting economic ties, discussions on the civil nuclear deal, cooperation on combating terrorism, security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and India's concerns over the H-1B work visa.

Earlier, a senior administration official said the visit is an opportunity to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership, which Trump very much views as a critical partnership in promoting stability and security in the Asia Pacific region and globally.

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