New Delhi, June 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a joint sitting of the US House of Representatives and Senate on June 22 during his first formal state visit to the United States on June 21.
PM Modi will address the parliament in a foreign country for the 12th time. Modi has addressed the legislatures of 11 nations in his nine-year term, the most by any Indian Prime Minister.
During his 10-year stint as Prime Minister of the United Progressive Alliance, Manmohan Singh addressed seven foreign legislatures. Indira Gandhi addressed foreign legislatures four times while Prime Minister, and Jawaharlal Nehru three times.
Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee both addressed foreign legislatures twice. Former Prime Ministers such as Morarji Desai and PV Narsimha Rao were only allowed to do so once.
Prior to PM Modi, Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Manmohan Singh were all given the opportunity to address the US Congress. PM Modi, on the other hand, would become the only Prime Minister to have done it twice.
Let’s look at the specifics of PM Modi’s speeches to foreign legislators. Bhutan was his first international tour after becoming Prime Minister.
In June 2014, Prime Minister Modi addressed a joint session of Bhutan’s parliament. PM Modi visited Nepal in August 2014 as part of his “neighbourhood first” programme. During his visit, Prime Minister Modi addressed Nepal’s Parliament-cum-Constituent Assembly.
PM Modi had the honour of addressing the Joint Session of the Australian Parliament on his visit to Australia in November 2014. It was the first time an Indian Prime Minister addressed the Australian Parliament.
In November 2014, Prime Minister Modi also addressed the Fiji Parliament. This was the first address to the Fiji Parliament by an Indian Prime Minister, and the first by any international leader. PM Modi addressed the Sri Lankan Parliament in March 2015.
It was the first occasion that an Indian Prime Minister was given the honour of addressing the Sri Lankan Parliament within the Parliament Chamber, with the Speaker of the House in the Chair and the Mace on the Table.
