What’s special about PM Modi’s visit to US this time?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to embark on an official state visit to the United States from June 21 to 24. This visit holds greater significance compared to his previous trips to Washington, as per diplomatic protocol.

What's special about thevisit is that this time it is categorised as a state visit. Prime Minister Modi has made multiple visits to the US during his nine-year tenure. However, none of them were classified officially as state visits.

What are state visits?

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As per diplomatic protocol, a state visit is the highest-ranked visit. The reverberations of this high-level visit will be seen in the grandiose with which the Indian prime minister will be received along with the diplomatic line-up during the trip.

Last visits by PM Modi

Less significant visits are categorised as official visits, official working visits, working visits, guest-of-government visits, or private visits, depending on their level of importance. These visits involve different protocols to be followed.

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In 2014, the visit by Indian PM Modi to the US was categorised as a working visit. In 2016, it was a working lunch visit, and in 2017, Modi's visit to the US was labelled as an official working visit. Later, as per US State Department, when Modi visited the US in 2019, the visit was described as his participation in a rally in Houston, Texas.

On September 23, 2021, Modi landed in Washington for his three-day US visit. That visit was the first since the COVID-19 outbreak and also the first visit to the US since Biden assumed charge. During that trip, Modi had a busy schedule where he attended the Quad summit, addressed the 76th United Nations General Assembly meet along with holding a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden.

Last state visit by Indian leader

The last state visit by an Indian leader to the US was when former prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited from November 23 to 25 in 2009.

Understanding state visits

State visits are formal visits to foreign countries led by a head of state or government, representing their sovereign authority, as per media reports.These visits are officially referred to as the "visit of [name of state]" rather than the "visit of [name of leader]."

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Invitations for state visits to the US are extended by the president, who serves as the head of state. As far as the duration of the state visits is concerned, they typically spana few days. One key difference in state visits is that it involves various elaborate ceremonies that are scheduled based on the visiting head of state's itinerary.

Ceremonies during state visit

In the US, these ceremonies may include a flight line ceremony upon arrival, a White House arrival ceremony with a 21-gun salute, a White House dinner, an exchange of diplomatic gifts, an invitation to stay at the Blair House (the US President's guesthouse), and flag street lining.

How state visits are different from other visits?

Not every visit by a foreign leader is classified as a state visit. State visits hold the highest ceremonial importance. At the same time, the state visit also symbolises strong bilateral relations.

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However, they are relatively rare. It is rare to maintain their prestige and symbolic significance. According to US diplomatic policy, the president can host no more than one leader from any nation once every four years.

Apart from state visits, other visits may be made by various important leaders. It can include crown princes, vice presidents, or ceremonial heads of state.

The impact of visit classification

Although state visits are ceremonially prestigious, the classification of the visit itself makes little difference in terms of actual diplomatic work.Working visits can be equally effective in fostering a healthy relationship between countries and accomplishing diplomatic goals.

In practice, most of the substantial work is conducted during visits other than state visits. It is so because state visits are rare and also the main focus is on ceremonial functions.

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