New Delhi: The Modi government is gearing up to roll out the red carpet for US President Donald J Trump on his maiden official visit to India on February 24-25. The three cities, two-day tour will first see the Air Force Carrier One land at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at Ahmedabad at noon on Monday, February 24.
Prime Minister Modi in a departure from protocol will personally receive First Lady Melania and President Trump at the airport. A large crowd, not ‘millions and millions’ though will dot the streets as the convoy moves through a 22 kilometre roadshow with nearly 12000 security personnel deployed across the city.
“#MaruAmdavad says #NamasteTrump. #IndiaRoadShow is getting bigger & bigger. More than 1 lakh participants already confirmed for the 22 km roadshow. Great opportunity for #Ahmedabad to present Indian Culture to the World,” Vijay Nehra, Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner had earlier tweeted.
The three hours of time scheduled for the first stop in Ahmedabad is expected to also include a quick visit to Sabarmati Ashram and a quiet lunch, say sources.
The two top leaders will interact with a cross-section of civil society members and address a packed crowd at the new cricket stadium in Motera at around half past noon during the ‘Namaste Trump’ event which is expected to be much larger in scale than the ‘Howdy Modi’ diaspora program in Houston last year which saw a sitting American President join a visiting Indian Prime Minister in a public event for the first time in history.
The First Lady and President Trump will then fly to Agra where they will be received by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, sources confirmed. The couple will fly to Delhi after spending some time at the historical monument of love, the 'Taj Mahal'.
The official engagements on Tuesday, February 25 will include a ceremonial guard of honour at Rashtrapati Bhawan, wreath-laying ceremony at Rajghat, official restricted and delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Modi at Hyderabad House, official lunch, courtesy call on by leaders, ‘meet and greet’ at the US Embassy and a Presidential State Banquet prior to his departure for Washington DC. It is yet to be decided if following the joint media statements, both leaders will take one or two questions each from the Indian and American press delegation or none at all.
Following official talks, Trump is expected to interact with some top Indian CEOs of companies that have created jobs in America at Roosevelt House. A separate round table will be organised the same day jointly by industry chambers and think tanks including CII, Ananta Aspen and USIBC.
The parallel industry meet which will not see the presence of the two top leaders will discuss a 500 billion USD roadmap for Indo-US bilateral trade. In a separate event, the American First Lady is expected to visit a Delhi government school and interact with students just days after Arvind Kejriwal won a handsome majority in assembly polls with school reforms considered among reasons key to his return to power.
With US Trade Representative Lighthizer not expected to accompany Trump during the visit, even a mini deal focusing on Trade and excluding Services is unlikely. Negotiations continuing for the past eight months remain stuck on key areas of agriculture, dairy, medical devices including coronary stents and ICT tariffs among others.
According to sources, the key areas of discussion and announcements in official talks will be defence and energy sector as India looks at further ways to reduce the trade surplus it has with the US. India’s trade surplus with the US has come down from 30 billion USD to 16 billion USD currently.
-- Senior Journalist Smita Sharma
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