PM Modi and President Trump in Osaka, Japan, in this June 28 photo. (Photo credits: Reuters)

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi will embark on a week-long visit to the US on Friday. While the first leg of his visit, to Houston, will see him meeting CEOs of energy majors and addressing an Indian community event — ‘Howdy, Modi’ — where US President Donald Trump will also be present, the PM will travel to New York on Monday to participate in the 74th session of the UN General Assembly .

Modi’s UNGA address on September 27, his first since 2014, and a meeting with Trump on September 24 are expected to be among the highlights of his trip. He will also address meetings on climate change and terrorism at the UNGA and host an event on Mahatma Gandhi .

While it’s not yet clear if the much talked about Indo-US trade deal will be finalised during the visit, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale told journalists on Thursday that India met the criteria for trade concessions under the US Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).

Gokhale was replying to a query on a bipartisan group of 44 US lawmakers urging the Trump administration to reinstate India’s designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the GSP programme as part of the potential trade deal. Gokhale said it was up to the US government to take a decision on the issue and that the trade deal had to be “mutually balanced’’.

The US had terminated India’s designation as a beneficiary developing nation under the GSP on June 5.

“It has always been India’s position that GSP is a unilateral decision given by countries to other countries based on certain criteria. We are a developing country, we meet those criteria. I do not recall us ever stating we are not interested in GSP. To my recollection, the US unilaterally withdrew that concession from us,” Gokhale said.

On the likely Indian agenda at the UNGA, the government is unlikely to bring up Article 370-related developments on its own because, as the foreign secretary said, it was an internal issue. He also said terrorism was not going to be the only focus area for India at the UNGA.

“Article 370 is an internal issue. Terrorism is one among many issues. The focus will be on India’s role on the global stage, the PM will present his vision in this regard,’’ Gokhale said. Modi is also expected to have bilaterals with 15-20 world leaders apart from Trump.

Modi will have his first engagement in Houston on September 21 in the form of a meeting with CEOs of 16 energy majors including ExxonMobil, BP and Emerson Electric Company. The next day, he will address the ‘Howdy, Modi’ event which will be attended by more than 50,000 people, including Trump and a bipartisan group of US Congressmen. In New York, Modi will hold a round-table with CEOs of 45 MNCs.

On September 23, the PM will participate in climate change, universal healthcare summits and leaders dialogue on terror responses. He will host a special event, ‘Leadership Matters: Relevance of Gandhi in the Contemporary World’, on September 24 where he will be joined by leaders of, among others, Singapore and South Korea.

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