Joe Biden to meet India’s Narendra Modi for two days of talks
21 June 2023 - 13:35
by Steve Holland
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US President Joe Biden holds a virtual meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss Russia's war with Ukraine from the White House in Washington US, in this April 11 2022 file photo. Picture: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS
Washington — US President Joe Biden welcomes India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on Wednesday for two days of talks that the White House sees as bolstering “one of the defining partnerships of our age,” despite ongoing concerns about human rights.
Washington wants India to be a strategic counterweight to China while Modi is seeking to raise the influence that his country, now the world’s most populous, has on the world stage.
Biden and Modi are expected to announce a variety of agreements related to defence co-operation and sales, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and investments in India by Micron Technology and other US companies.
Biden is expected to bring up US concerns about democratic backsliding in India, but he will not lecture Modi on the subject, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
When the US sees challenges to media, religious or other freedoms, “we make our views known,” Sullivan said. He added: “We do so in a way where we don’t seek to lecture or assert that we don’t have challenges ourselves.”
“Ultimately, the question of where politics and the question of democratic institutions go in India is going to be determined within India by Indians. It's not going to be determined by the US,” Sullivan said.
Modi has been to the US five times since becoming prime minister in 2014, but the trip will be his first with the full diplomatic status of a state visit, despite concerns over what is seen as a deteriorating human rights situation under his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Biden is under pressure by his fellow Democrats to bring up human rights with Modi. Modi is being warmly greeted by US CEOs, including at a Friday reception. On Tuesday he met Tesla’s Elon Musk in New York.
Both Biden and Modi are grappling with Beijing’s flexing its muscle in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
“This visit is not about China. But the question of China’s role in the military domain, the technology domain, the economic domain will be on the agenda,” Sullivan said.
Modi will visit the National Science Foundation with first lady Jill Biden on Wednesday and have a private dinner with the president on Wednesday night at the White House.
On Thursday, Modi will be welcomed with a colourful arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn. Biden and Modi will hold Oval Office talks and attend a state dinner in Modi’s honour Thursday night.
No joint media conference was planned. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said work was still ongoing on that subject.
Modi has not backed the Ukraine war effort and India has been heavily reliant on Russian oil. Biden will bring up Russia and Ukraine ahead of the G20 summit later in 2023 that will be held in India, Sullivan said.
“Across the board, I think you’ll see a combination of deep strategic discussions and practical progress, tangible progress in every single dimension of the relationship, all of it reflecting and reinforce the fact that this from our perspective will be one of the defining partnerships of our age,” Sullivan said.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Joe Biden to meet India’s Narendra Modi for two days of talks
Washington — US President Joe Biden welcomes India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on Wednesday for two days of talks that the White House sees as bolstering “one of the defining partnerships of our age,” despite ongoing concerns about human rights.
Washington wants India to be a strategic counterweight to China while Modi is seeking to raise the influence that his country, now the world’s most populous, has on the world stage.
Biden and Modi are expected to announce a variety of agreements related to defence co-operation and sales, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and investments in India by Micron Technology and other US companies.
Biden is expected to bring up US concerns about democratic backsliding in India, but he will not lecture Modi on the subject, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
When the US sees challenges to media, religious or other freedoms, “we make our views known,” Sullivan said. He added: “We do so in a way where we don’t seek to lecture or assert that we don’t have challenges ourselves.”
“Ultimately, the question of where politics and the question of democratic institutions go in India is going to be determined within India by Indians. It's not going to be determined by the US,” Sullivan said.
Modi has been to the US five times since becoming prime minister in 2014, but the trip will be his first with the full diplomatic status of a state visit, despite concerns over what is seen as a deteriorating human rights situation under his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Biden is under pressure by his fellow Democrats to bring up human rights with Modi. Modi is being warmly greeted by US CEOs, including at a Friday reception. On Tuesday he met Tesla’s Elon Musk in New York.
Both Biden and Modi are grappling with Beijing’s flexing its muscle in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
“This visit is not about China. But the question of China’s role in the military domain, the technology domain, the economic domain will be on the agenda,” Sullivan said.
Modi will visit the National Science Foundation with first lady Jill Biden on Wednesday and have a private dinner with the president on Wednesday night at the White House.
On Thursday, Modi will be welcomed with a colourful arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn. Biden and Modi will hold Oval Office talks and attend a state dinner in Modi’s honour Thursday night.
No joint media conference was planned. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said work was still ongoing on that subject.
Modi has not backed the Ukraine war effort and India has been heavily reliant on Russian oil. Biden will bring up Russia and Ukraine ahead of the G20 summit later in 2023 that will be held in India, Sullivan said.
“Across the board, I think you’ll see a combination of deep strategic discussions and practical progress, tangible progress in every single dimension of the relationship, all of it reflecting and reinforce the fact that this from our perspective will be one of the defining partnerships of our age,” Sullivan said.
Reuters
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