'20 meetings in 65 hours': PM Narendra Modi had a packed schedule in US

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day trip to the United States was packed with meetings as he attended 20 of them during the around 65 hours he spent in the country, government sources said on Sunday.

He also had four long meetings in flights with officials on the way to and back from the US, they added. Sharing details, sources said PM Modi had two meetings in flight on Wednesday on the way to the US and three in the hotel upon his arrival.

On September 23, he had five meetings with as many CEOs followed by talks with US Vice President Kamala Harris and bilateral interactions with his Japanese and Australian counterparts Yoshihide Suga and Scott Morrison respectively. He also chaired three internal meetings.

He had a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden the next day and then attended the Quad meet. Sources said PM Modi also held four internal meetings on September 24.

As PM Modi left the US for India on September 25, he held two meetings on the flight back, sources said. The Prime Minister is known to keep a busy schedule on his overseas trips, packing his stay with important meetings. 

Official sources say that one of his tricks is to pack his hours with back-to-back engagements so that it doesn't let the mind think much about any fatigue. As PM Modi returned from his three-day visit to the US on Sunday, sources said travelling around at a hectic pace while keeping tiredness at bay is not a new attribute of him.

"When he used to visit the US in the 1990s, an airline at that time used to give a monthly travel pass at heavily discounted rates. To make the most of it, PM Modi would always travel in the night as this ensured that he could visit most places while not having to spend a penny on hotels. His night would be invariably spent at the airport and in the plane," a source said.

As soon as he steps on the flight, the Prime Minister tunes his body and sleep cycle to the time zone of the destination, sources added, noting that if this means even if it is night in India when he takes off, he may not sleep if it would be a day in the country of destination.

He does the same thing when returning to India and tunes his body and sleep cycle according to the Indian time, ensuring that he is fresh and ready to go when he lands during the daytime.

PM Modi also ensures drinking a lot of water as doctors suggest that the air in the plane sucks out moisture in the body, they added.