Trump to visit India on Feb 24, 25: White House
Washington: President Donald Trump will travel to India later this month on a two-day visit, the White House announced on Tuesday, in what would be his first trip to the country as the president of the United States.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump will travel to New Delhi and Ahmedabad during the visit from February 24-25, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said.
His predecessor, Barack Obama, had travelled to India twice, in 2010 and 2015.
During a phone call over the weekend, Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed the trip would further strengthen the India-US strategic partnership and highlight the strong and enduring bonds between the American and Indian people, she said.
"President Trump's trip to India is timely in view of the bilateral trade issues that need to be resolved and in light of the collaborations between the US and India in various realms," M R Rangaswami, Indian-American philanthropist and head of Indiaspora, told PTI.
Describing this as a significant visit, Mukesh Aghi, president of the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum, noted that last three American presidents had made trips to India.
"It's essential to send a message to the region that India is a significant partner and the president values that," Aghi told PTI.
According to him, India has a role to play not only in its immediate neighbourhood, but in making sure that the South China Sea and the Indo Pacific region is part of the international global order.
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Unruly scenes witnessed in Punjab Assembly
Chandigarh (PTI): The Punjab Assembly on Friday witnessed high drama on Friday after Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira made an allegedly objectionable remark against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during an intense argument over the alleged use of mobile phone in the house by the legislator.
During the one-day special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha here, Mann accused Khaira of using a mobile phone when Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan was reading out an official resolution on the revision of wages.
After rising from his seat, the chief minister pointed to the speaker, claiming that Khaira is busy on his mobile phone and urged him to ask the Congress MLA what Sandhwan had said about the resolution.
The speaker then asked Khaira to maintain order in the house and listen to the resolution carefully.
Mann then asked Khaira, "Why don't you go out and then use it (mobile phone)," which led to a strong verbal altercation during which the opposition MLA hurled an accusation against the chief minister. Meanwhile, the speaker appealed for order and insisted that the chair be addressed.
However, both Mann and Khaira continued arguing and could be seen pointing fingers at each other as the proceedings of the house were disrupted.
The AAP MLAs also rose from their seats with Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema condemning Khaira for his conduct and demanded action against him.
Cheema further alleged that Khaira "always tries to disturb the house" as he spoke about his conduct in the assembly.
The incident occurred as an official resolution on the revision of wages was presented at the special session by Labour Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond who said it paid homage to labourers on the International Workers' Day.
"Workers are the axis of construction of the nation, the community, the state and society. Every construction project succeeds only through their blood and sweat," the resolution read.
As per the resolution, "The base rate of minimum wages for the working class in Punjab was last revised in the year 2012. Although the dearness allowance has continued to increase since 2012, there has been no increase in the base rate of minimum wages.
On this sacred occasion of May Day, in this special session of the legislative assembly, this house proposes to revise and increase the minimum wages of labourers and strongly recommends to the government to take a decision regarding the increase of minimum wages for workers, so that the contributions of the workers can be acknowledged." PRK
