Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first state visit to the United States from June 21 to June 24 is generating a great deal of interest for its geopolitical significance. While Modi has been invited for several bilateral and multilateral meetings with American presidents in the past, this official state visit, preceding the G20 Summit in September, with a state dinner, is a signal that the US considers India to be an equal partner.In a statement, the White House said that the state visit, the highest level of diplomatic reception, will boost the US and India’s “shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific”.Indeed, the visit is important as the US seeks to counter China’s growing clout and look to possibly move its investments. Political scientist Sumit Ganguly said, “The [Joe] Biden administration is desperately courting India – they need a potential counterweight to China, for global supply chain and for investment reasons.” It could also provide an opportunity for the US to urge India, which so far has been walking a fine line, to openly condemn Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.The visit is also crucial for Modi’s global image and, more importantly, for buttressing an image back home, as part of his 2024 election campaign launch – of India’s global grandstanding (notwithstanding the human rights violations) – and in particular of Modi as the leader who achieved that.As part of the plan to extend a grand welcome to Modi, the American-Indian diaspora is planning events in multiple cities. An ‘India Unity Day’ march is being planned from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC; other such marches are being planned in 20 other prominent cities, including New York’s Times Square and San Francisco’s Golden Bridge. Additionally, according to news reports, the Indian diaspora has planned “a cultural event spanning Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and West to East in front of the White House”, to showcase the growth of India during Modi’s term of the past nine years. It is also likely that Modi may lead the International Yoga Day celebrations on June 21 in New York.Experts caution against viewing the 2.8 million strong Indian diaspora as a monolith. According to political scientist Latha Varadarajan, who is the author of a book The Domestic Abroad, it is a “particular kind of Indian abroad that speaks loudly, who represent specific socio economic interests”. Their views, she explains, are closely tied to their economic interests: they support the opening of Indian markets and show “a strong support for corporate friendly policies adopted by the Modi government”.The events for Modi’s welcome are being planned by the Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP) USA, along with other right-wing organisations such as the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, which has been fast expanding in many countries across the world, with branches currently in about 40 countries including East Asia. The HSS has some 205 local chapters in the US and presence on many college campuses.The OFBJP has been very influential in organising fundraising and other pro-Modi events. Prior to the last general election, the group organised hundreds of “chai pe charcha (chat over tea)” events, as a way to influence potential voters. They do fundraising and also work as unofficial pollsters. They call friends and family back home, and urge them to vote for Modi, explains Varadarajan.The same group was involved in events like Modi’s at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2014 and “Howdy Modi” in Texas featuring Modi and Donald Trump in 2019. These events brought hundreds and thousands of people who chanted Modi’s name. Over 19,000 people attended the Madison Square Garden event. And a crowd of over 50,000 people was present when Modi and Trump jointly addressed the ‘Howdy Modi!’ gathering in Houston, Texas.While exact numbers are hard to come by, such events help with fundraising for the party. The group, along with other Hindu nationalist organisations, has been pivotal in providing support and funding to the BJP. Scholar Fahmida Ashraf has conducted research on several charities that channel funding to the BJP.Diaspora diplomacy has been a key part of Modi’s political strategy since the time he was chief minister of Gujarat. He has attended various events organised by the Gujarati community, who represent the largest group among the Indian Americans. When Modi was refused a visa in 2005, he had been invited to attend the Annual Convention and Trade Show of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association in Florida.Support also comes from those in the diaspora who want to project a strong Indian state to the western world, while ignoring the human rights violations, the suppression of freedom of speech and attacks on minorities. As Ganguly explains, there are those in the diaspora who “seem to put a great deal of emphasis on restoring India’s pride and Modi has played up that narrative effectively and many are willing to overlook India’s shortcomings” in this process.The visit will serve to likely enhance Modi’s image both abroad and at home. The Indian state would like to present itself “as a spokesperson for the global South – as a state that challenges what it calls western bullying,” says Varadarajan. The state dinner hosted by Biden will send out a signal that the US and India are equal allies.Modi calls India the “mother of democracy” and Biden refers to India as the “world’s largest democracy”. However, experts caution that ignoring human rights violations may erode the very idea of what constitutes a true democracy.Kalpana Jain is the senior ethics and religion editor at The Conversation US, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is an alumna of Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Divinity School.