Trump likely to make an announcement regarding India in Houston event

New Delhi/Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the United States to address the UN General Assembly. He will also attend the programme organised by the Indian-American community in the city of Houston. President Trump said that he would also be joining the programme and hinted at making a significant announcement regarding India at the time.

Nearly 50,000 Indian Americans are expected to be present for the programme to be held in Houston on Sunday. Presence of President Trump, alongside Prime Minister Modi, stands testimony to the growing Indian influence. This has made the Pakistani analysts very restless and according to them, it is proved that the entire international community, along with the United States, is standing with India on the Kashmir issue.

External Attairs Minister had retorted, ‘Many messages are being delivered through this event, organised in Houston. Pakistan has to decide which message to accept.’ Therefore, this program set to take place in Houston has gained a lot of political significance. The Indian diaspora in the United States is very influential and it is to garner support from the Indian community ahead of presidential elections that President Trump is seen participating the event, is the inference drawn by a few people.

Meanwhile, President Trump has said that he will be making a very important announcement in this program. He has not given any further details. But, a few months ago, he had removed India from the ‘Generalised System of Preferences Program’ (GPS). The people’s representatives in the United States are demanding to reinstate the status of India. Against this background, there is a possibility of India regaining the status. But President Trump could also come with some different announcement and pleasantly surprise the Indian community.

Meanwhile, it is said that 60 people’s representatives from the United States will be attending the Houston event. This once again underlines the increasing Indian influence in the United States. President Trump and Prime Minister Modi will be meeting twice in one week, and this will have a very positive impact on the bilateral relations. Since May this year, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have met twice, first during the G-20 summit in Japan and G-7 summit in France, after that.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has refused permission to use its airspace for Prime Minister Modi’s flight for this visit. India has given a very controlled reaction on the subject. Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale expressed confidence that Pakistan will realise the consequences of this policy and change its decision.

The extremists from Pakistan have been questioning their government, who is making vitriolic statements against India on the Kashmir issue that why the Pakistani airspace is not being closed for India. The Imran Khan Government lack the courage to make this happen were the comments passed. The Pakistan government seems to have decided under this pressure. Before this, the Pakistan government had taken the decision not to allow the use of its airspace for the Indian President’s flight. However, the Pakistan government has still not made the decision to stop the Indian passenger airlines from using its airspace. Indian Rajya Sabha member, Subramaniam Swami had demanded that India should use the navy to block Pakistani port of Karachi if Pakistan took any such decision.