Looking Forward to Host PM Modi on June 22, Says US

New Delhi, June 6 (IANS) The US administration has said that it is looking forward to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 22.

During a press briefing on Monday when asked about Modi's upcoming official state visit, the State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said: "We are very much looking forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi for the state visit later this month. Our partnership with India is one of our most consequential relations and we are looking forward to deepening our collaboration on a number of issues.

"We are also looking forward to deepening our economic ties and trade issues."

Modi's visit is on an invitation by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

During his visit, the Prime Minister will attend at a state dinner at the White House which is being accorded to an Indian leader after 14 years.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the last, hosted by then US President Barack Obama in 2009.

The US Congress has also invited Modi to address a joint meeting of the House of Representatives and Senate.

His first address to Congress was in 2016, becoming the sixth Indian Prime Minister to do so jointly or separately.

Jawaharlal Nehru was the the first, addressing the House and Senate separately in 1949; Rajiv Gandhi became the second in 1985; P.V. Narasimha Rao became the third in 1994; Atal Bihari Vajpayee the fourth in 2000; and Manmohan Singh the fifth in 2005.

Modi could now become both the sixth and seventh Indian Prime Minister to speak to Congress, and the first to do so twice.