On his first official state visit to the US on June 21, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the joint meeting of the US House of Representatives and Senate on June 22. This will be the 12th time when PM Modi will address the legislature in a foreign country.
Till now, Modi has addressed the legislatures of 11 countries in his tenure of nine years – the highest for any Indian PM.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed seven foreign legislatures in his 10-year tenure under the UPA government.
Indira Gandhi had addressed foreign legislatures four times while Jawaharlal Nehru did it for three times when he was the Prime Minister. Both Rajiv Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed foreign legislatures only two times.
Former prime minister like Morarji Desai or PV Narsimha Rao got to do so only once.
Before PM Modi, Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh also got the opportunities to address the US legislature. However, PM Modi would become the only PM to have done so twice.
Let’s take a look at the details of PM Modi’s addresses to foreign legislatures.
When he became Prime Minister, the first foreign visit he took was to Bhutan. This was June 2014 and PM Modi addressed the joint session of the Bhutanese parliament.
In August 2014, furthering his neighbourhood first policy, PM Modi visited Nepal. During the visit, PM Modi addressed the Parliament-cum-Constituent Assembly of Nepal.
Visiting Australia in November 2014, PM Modi had the privilege of addressing the Joint Session of the Australian Parliament. It was the first ever address by an Indian PM to the Australian Parliament.
PM Modi also addressed the Fiji Parliament in November 2014. This was the first ever address by an Indian Prime Minister and the first by any world leader to Fiji Parliament.
In March 2015, PM Modi addressed the Parliament of Sri Lanka. It was the first time an Indian PM was accorded the privilege of addressing the Sri Lankan Parliament inside the Parliament Chamber with the Speaker of the House in the Chair and the Mace on the Table.
In May 2015, PM Modi addressed the parliament of Mongolia. It was the first ever visit by an Indian PM to Mongolia.
In November 2015, PM Modi addressed the UK Parliament. It was the first ever address by an Indian PM to the British parliament. He addressed the Parliament of Afghanistan in December 2015.
In June 2016, PM Modi addressed the Joint Meeting of US Congress.
PM Modi addressed the Parliament of Uganda in July 2018 — a first for an Indian PM to do so.
In June 2019, he addressed the Maldivian Parliament.
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