PM Modi in US: All you need to know about a 'State Visit'

While PM Modi has made multiple high impact visits to US after ascending to the Prime Minister’s office in May 2014, his ongoing “State Visit” has piqued considerable interest and excitement with it being hailed as one of the most significant milestone in Indo US relations’ trajectory, especially in view of a multitude of geopolitical developments necessitating a realignment of international relations.

Let us take a look at the different types of foreign visits that are undertaken by heads of the states to understand how they are different from each other not only in terms of nomenclature but also their impact on diplomatic & trade relations. There are “State Visits”, “Official Visits”, “Working Visits” and “Official Working Visits”.

State Visits ­– These visits are on the official invitation of the US president in his official capacity as head of the state to the visiting country’s head of the state. These visits usually are planned months in advance with 3-4 day itinerary with a multitude of elaborate ceremonies thrown in, including ceremonial dinners, joint addresses and are high on diplomatic optics. A US president can host only one nation once in 4 years which usually is his entire term unless he is re-elected, and Biden has chosen to accord this honour to India during his term.

Official Visits – These visits are again on the official invitation of the US president but in his capacity as head of the Federal Government of the US. These are usually 3-4 day itinerary events with a blend of ceremonial and functional activities such as discussions on major topics of mutual interest, negotiations, consultations and treaty signings etc.

Working Visits & Official Working Visits - These are of a largely functional in nature and are undertaken with the agenda to conduct business in the form of negotiations, outreach to trade and industry bodies, consultations and treaty signings either as an outreach by the visiting dignitary to a certain section of the population/trade/industry forums (e.g. 2014 working visit during Barak Obama presidency; 2016 working visit at the invitation of then VP Joe Biden).

Thus, while “State Visits” are significantly higher up in the pecking order of the visits due to their symbolic heft and are viewed as such by the public, international relations experts and friendly and rival countries, other visits are considered more fruitful in terms of conduct of business due to limited distractions of ceremonies and pomp.

While multiple developments have underlined India’s growing global stature, what underscores the significance of an already important visit is the fact that while in 2005 US had denied visa under the Immigration and Nationality Act to Narendra Modi the then CM of Gujarat, in 2023 it has extended the invitation for the state visit to Narendra Modi the PM of India. Similarly, willingness to share the jet engine tech under Joe Biden administration juxtaposed to the fact that Joe Biden as a senator in 1992 had opposed the transfer of cryogenic engine tech transfer to India citing possible danger of it being used for military purposes can also be seen as an unambiguous acknowledgement of India’s growing significance in US scheme of things – domestic & global by the big brother himself!