Ties with India destined to be ‘stronger, closer and tighter’: Biden after meeting PM Modi

Washington [US]: US President Joe Biden, who recently held the first in-person bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the ties between two of the world’s largest democracies–India and the US– are destined to be “stronger, closer and tighter”.

On Friday, Biden hosted PM Modi at the White House for the bilateral meeting and discussed a wide range of priority issues, including combating COVID-19, climate change, trade and the Indo-Pacific.

PM Modi described the bilateral summit with Biden as “important” as they’re meeting at the start of the third decade of this century.

He also held one-on-one meetings with the chief executives of Qualcomm, Adobe, First Solar, General Atomics and Blackstone and discussed a number of issues ranging from drones to 5G, semiconductor, and solar power.

US and India are committed to taking on the toughest challenges both countries face together.

“This morning, I hosted Prime Minister Modi at the White House as we launch a new chapter in the history of U.S.-India ties. Our two nations are the largest democracies in the world, and we’re committed to taking on the toughest challenges we face — together,” Biden tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi, who was on a three-day visit to the US, held his maiden bilateral meeting with US President Biden and attended the Quad leaders Summit.

Since January, PM Modi and Biden have participated in three summits. Two of them were hosted by President Biden – the Quad virtual summit in March and the Climate Change Summit in April which was also held virtually.

Prime Minister Modi on Saturday concluded his itinerary-packed 3-day visit to the US.

Biden and Modi started their talks with comments on the promise of the India-US relationship, the areas they would work on like COVID-19 and climate and the importance of the Diaspora. Their opening remarks were sprinkled with jokes and laughter, interspersed with a serious outlining of the discussions ahead.

Modi said that under Biden’s leadership the seeds had been sown for India-US relations to expand and that they were entering a “transformative phase”. In this context, he mentioned the growing importance of people-to-people ties and said Indian talent would be a “full partner” in this relationship.

Besides holding talks with US President Biden, the Prime Minister also met with United States Vice President Kamala Harris and Prime Ministers of Australia and Japan on Thursday.

On September 24, US Vice President Harris met PM Modi to reaffirm the strategic partnership between the two countries, the White House informed in a statement.

“They discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and collaborative efforts to respond and recover, including cooperation on vaccine production under the Quad Vaccine Partnership,” said White House.

According to the statement, Harris welcomed India’s commitment to resume vaccine exports and the progress of its domestic vaccination campaign. Both US Vice President and Prime Minister Modi agreed that ambitious action to combat climate change was imperative in the face of the climate crisis.

“They each emphasized a commitment to democratic values and discussed the need to strengthen democracy at home and abroad. They supported expanding bilateral security cooperation in the face of modern threats, including terrorism and cybercrime,” the statement said.

Earlier the day, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said both PM Modi and US Vice President Harris appreciated, the India-US bilateral relationship, which they felt were on strong footing with given the shared values, common interest in growing strategic convergence.

PM Modi today returned to New Delhi after concluding his three-day US visit.