US Press Secretary in a statement announced that US President Donald Trump will be traveling to Houston, Texas, and Wapakoneta, Ohio to accentuate the important partnerships between the United States, India, and Australia. The US statement confirmed that Donald Trump would be participating in the "Howdy, Modi!" event alongside PM Modi.

Here's the statement: 

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said, "It (Modi-Trump joint rally) will be a great opportunity to emphasize the strong ties between the people of the United States and India. It would reaffirm the strategic partnership between the world's oldest and largest democracies, and to discuss ways to deepen their energy and trade relationship." This would also be the first time that an American president would be addressing thousands of Indian-Americans at one place in the US. The statement added that Trump will be accompanied by a bipartisan delegation of Governors, Members of Congress, Mayors and other public officials.

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Howdy, Modi!

The Houston event will be Modi's third major address to the Indian-American community after he became the prime minister in 2014 and the first after his re-election in May. The previous two were at the Madison Square Garden in New York in 2014 and the Silicon Valley in 2016. Both the events were attended by more than 20,000 people. The "Howdy, Modi!" event is being organised by non-profit Texas India Forum, a recently-formed representative body of hundreds of Indian American organisations in Texas and other parts of the US. 

PM Modi approached Trump at  G7

White House officials told PTI PM Modi requested the US President Donald Trump when the two leaders held a bilateral meet in France on the sidelines of G7 Summit. Trump who considers PM Modi as a 'great friend,' "immediately accepted" the invitation to join him in Houston and directed his officials and secret service, as per officials. This would be the third meeting between the two leaders this year. The previous two were on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in June in Japan and in France in July on the sidelines of the G7 Summit.

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(With PTI inputs)