Accompanied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and top brass of his administration, Trump will land at Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport around 11:40 am.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday emplaned for India as he heads directly to Ahmedabad to a massive roadshow followed by 'Namaste Trump' at the Motera stadium in the Gujarat city.
Accompanied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and top brass of his administration, Trump will land at Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport around 11:40 am.
Ahead of boarding Marine One, the designated chopper for the US President, on White House lawns, Trump said he was looking forward to being with the people of India.
"I look forward to being with the people of India, we will be with millions and millions of people. I get along very well with the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), he is a friend of mine. The Prime Minister told me this will be the biggest event they have ever had," Trump said.
The Air Force One carrying the delegation will land directly in India with a brief stopover in Germany.
Trump will kick-start his 36-hour stay in India with a roadshow, a visit to Sabarmati Ashram and a massive welcome event at Motera Stadium. He will then emplane for Agra where he will take a tour of the Taj Mahal.
From Agra, Trump will come to Delhi around 7:30 pm where he will spend the entire day on Tuesday on official engagements.
The visit is expected to significantly ramp up bilateral defence and strategic ties between India and the US but unlikely to produce tangible outcome in resolving thorny issues like trade tariffs.
According to officials on both sides, the talks between Trump and Modi are likely to be focused on a wide variety of bilateral and regional issues including trade and investment, defence and security, counter-terrorism, energy security, religious freedom, the proposed peace deal with Taliban in Afghanistan and situation in the Indo-Pacific.
The US president's visit to India comes at a time when the country has been witnessing massive protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The White House has said that Trump will raise the issue of religious freedom in India in talks with Modi.
"President Trump will talk about our shared tradition of democracy and religious freedom both in his public remarks and then certainly in private. He will raise these issues, particularly the religious freedom issue, which is extremely important to this administration," a senior official at the White House said.
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 "US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump make their way to board Air Force One before departing for India, Feb 23")
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