Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US First Lady Jill Biden have reached the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Alexandria, Virginia, to interact with Indian and American students, news agency ANI reported. These students are learning skills to succeed in industries important for the economies of India and the US. This visit is likely to be the first public engagement of Modi, who is visiting the US from June 21 to 24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. Earlier in the day, Modi celebrated the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters.
The event at the NSF will be hosted by the First Lady, a PTI report said, citing a statement by the White House.
The statement said that the First Lady will highlight career-connected and learning and workforce training programmes and partnerships between high schools, community colleges and universities with employers. The First Lady and India's Prime Minister will meet with students from the US and India and participate in a moderate conversation, the White House said.
Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan, an Indian-American computer scientist, is the Director of the NSF.
Several Indian Cabinet Ministers visited the headquarters of NSF last year, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
After this event, the US President and the First Lady will host a State Dinner for Modi in the presence of more than 400 guests. For this event, a big tent is expected to be pitched on the South Lawns of the White House.
The NSF is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and US territories, and was established in 1950 by the Congress to promote the progress of science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defence. The mission of the agency is to support all fields of fundamental science and engineering, except for medical sciences.
As part of the state visit, Modi has met personalities like SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, investor Ray Dalio, and author Nicholas Nassim Taleb, among others.
As Tyson met Modi on Tuesday evening, the astrophysicist said that the Indian prime minister is "scientifically thoughtful", and that the potential for what India can accomplish knows no limits.