Narendra Modi has begun the trip by placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetary. He is due to meet US President Obama at the White House on Tuesday.
3 questions, 3 answers: Obama to host India's Modi
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As well as the wreath laying ceremony, he met with US Attorney General Loretta Lynch for an observance to mark the repatriation of over 200 artifacts to the Indian government.
On Tuesday, Modi will hold talks with US President Barack Obama during a working lunch at the White House. A new defense agreement is on the cards, along with furthering plans for American investment in India's nuclear power sector.
Modi and US Attorney General Lorreta LynchImage: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Owen
Defense and trade talks
Commentators think Obama is keen to boost relations with India - which have sometimes been strained - as part of his legacy, as he prepares to leave office in January.
The US is India's main arms supplier, with the New Delhi government spending $14 billion over the past five years.
Washington is keen to make inroads into India's huge market and boost US-India trade from $120 billion to $500 billion.
On Wednesday, Modi will become the fifth Indian premier to address a joint session of the US Congress, and afterwards will be hosted at a reception for dignitaries and lawmakers.
He will also meet US business leaders and members of the three million strong Indian-American community during his visit.
Modi is on a five-country trip with stops so far in Afghanistan, Qatar and Switzerland. After the US he goes to Mexico.
India's global CEOs
DW profiles some of the India-born chief executive officers (CEOs), who are currently in charge of global companies, including Microsoft and PepsiCo. Google's Sundar Pichai is the latest addition to this list.
Image: Reuters/R. Galbraith
Satya Nadella
Born in Hyderabad, India, Satya Narayana Nadella became the CEO of the US technology giant Microsoft in early 2014. After completing his Bachelor's in India, he went to the US to pursue higher education in Computer Science. Nadella had worked with Sun Microsystems before joining Microsoft in 1992.
Image: Reuters
Sundar Pichai
An Indian Institute of Technology alumnus, Pichai is the new CEO of Internet giant Google. The Chennai-born soft-spoken Pichai joined the company in 2004. Larry Page, one of Google's two founders, said this in his recent blog about Pichai: "I feel very fortunate to have someone as talented as he is to run the slightly slimmed down Google."
Image: picture alliance/dpa/J. Chiu
Indra Nooyi
Nooyi has been the CEO of PepsiCo - the second-largest food and beverage comapny in the world by net revenue - since 2006. She has consistently ranked among the world's 100 most powerful women. Like many others, she attended schools and colleges in India before leaving the country for higher education in the US.
Image: AP
Shantanu Narayen
Like Microsoft's chief Nadella, Narayen is an alumnus of the Hyderabad Public School. He is the CEO of Adobe Systems. Narayen started his professional career at Apple.
Image: Getty Images/J. Sullivan
Rajeev Suri
Nokia's CEO Rajeev Suri went to the Manipal Institute of Technology. He became Nokia's boss after the sale of Nokia's phone division to Microsoft Mobile was completed.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/R. Rekomaa
Ajaypal Singh Banga
Ajay Banga has been in charge of MasterCard since 2010. An Economics graduate from Delhi University, Banga did his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/N. Hutton
Ivan Menezes
Another graduate of the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, Menezes is currently CEO of Diageo, a multinational alcoholic beverages company.
