New Delhi: The leaders of the US Congress said on Friday they had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint meeting of the House of Representatives and Senate on June 22, one of the highest honours Washington affords to foreign dignitaries.
“During your address, you will have the opportunity to share your vision for India’s future and speak to the global challenges our countries both face,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a letter to Modi, Reuters reported.
It is my honor to invite @PMOIndia@narendramodi to address a Joint Meeting of Congress on Thursday, June 22nd.
This will be an opportunity to celebrate the enduring friendship between the United States and India and speak to the global challenges our countries both face. pic.twitter.com/gu68UjJltG
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) June 2, 2023
This will be Prime Minister Modi’s second address to the Congress after 2016.
The foreign leaders who have addressed to the US Congress the most number of times are Winston Churchill and Benjamin Netanyahu (three times), followed by Nelson Mandela and Yitzhak Rabin (twice).
Churchill addressed an informal meeting of the Congress in 1941, and joint meetings in 1943 and 1952; Netanyahu addressed joint meetings in 1996, 2011, and 2015.
In US President Joe Biden’s presidency, the foreign leaders who addressed the joint US Congress are Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his wife, Olena Zelenska, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.