PM Narendra Modi looks to solidify India’s tech prowess with US state visit

Narendra Modi arrives in the US on his first official state visit with India’s geopolitical clout higher than at any point since he took power in 2014. He’ll be looking to leverage that to become an indispensable partner for American tech ambitions.

The trip will be a high-profile affair, complete with a banquet at the White House and an address to the US Congress, making Modi the first Indian prime minister to speak in front of the legislature twice. Besides meeting US President Joe Biden, he set to catch up with private-sector leaders including Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk.

For Biden, India offers a diplomatic and military counterbalance to China’s power in the region, at a time when the US is distancing itself from its biggest trade partner and the world’s manufacturing powerhouse. Both nations see Beijing as a threat, with Biden expanding Trump-era export curbs to China and Modi’s government banning hundreds of Chinese apps in the wake of a border clash that left 20 Indian soldiers dead in 2020.