Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked on a state visit to the United States, a designation usually reserved for heads of state not head of governments.

But how many times has a Pakistani office holder made a state visit?

There are a total of four types of visits to the US that are made on the invitation of the president. The most important is the State Visit, followed by the Official Visit, Official Working Visit and Working Visit.

No Pakistani head of government has made the visit with a ‘state’ designation. However, two Pakistani presidents have made a total of three state visits to the US.

President Ayub Khan made two state visits to the US. The first came in 1961 and the second in 1965.

The only other Pakistani to be invited on a state visit was President Zia ul Haq in 1982.

The State Visit involves a 21-gun salute welcome, a meeting with the president, a state dinner and a stay at the Blair House, the US president’s official guest house, for four days and three nights.

The state visit also involves a formal departure ceremonyThe pomp and length of vists are decrease on official vists or official working visits, to which heads of government are usually invited.

The last two vists by a Pakistani prime ministers (Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan) were both Official Working visits.

Modi is not the only Indian, or even the only Indian prime minister to go on a state visit. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also made one in 2009. Before that it was Indian President Radhakrishnan who made a state visit all the way back in 1963.

The visit is unusual because of the ‘state’ designation, highest under US protocol rules. It is Modi’s sixth visit to the US, but the first one classified under this designation.