Gov. Nikki Haley visiting Indian prime minister in NY

Gov. Nikki Haley will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday in New York, her office confirmed Friday.

Haley, one of the nation’s two Indian-American governors, will visit Modi with her parents, who emigrated from India. They also will attend a speech later Sunday that Modi is giving at Madison Square Garden, an event organized by the Indian American Community Foundation.

During his five-day trip, Modi is visiting Washington, where he is going to the White House, and New York, where he will speak to the United Nations, according to news reports. He took office in May in an election powered through social media, a tool Haley also uses.

The prime minister also is meeting with former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Govs. Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Andrew Cuomo of New York, The Wall Street Journal reported. All are Democrats.

India’s U.S. embassy invited the Republican Haley for the visit, her office said. Modi will visit with Haley and her parents, Ajit and Raj Randhawa, before the prime minister holds a private meeting with the first-term governor who is seeking re-election in November.

The Randhawas immigrated to Canada’s British Columbia in the late 1960s and, later, moved to Bamberg, where the governor was born.

Haley will go on a 10-day trade mission to India in November, about a week after the election.

Haley and five staffers from the S.C. Department of Commerce will visit New Dehli, Mumbai and the Punjab state, where the governor’s parents were born. Haley’s only other visit to India was as a 2-year-old.

Haley’s political campaigns in 2010 and 2014 have received support from Indian-Americans from across the country.

This story was originally published September 26, 2014 at 9:21 PM with the headline "Gov. Nikki Haley visiting Indian prime minister in NY."