NEW DELHI: President Joe Biden opened his visit to India on Friday by meeting privately with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indian leader's home in a session the White House said was marked by "undeniable warmth and confidence" in one another going into the annual Group of 20 summit where climate, economic security and more will dominate the weekend's talks.
Biden spent 52 minutes with Modi after a lavish welcome ceremony at the airport, and Kurt Campbell, a Biden adviser on the Indo-Pacific, told reporters afterward that warm sentiments have replaced a sense of distrust and uncertainty that previously defined relations between the two countries.
"What I have seen grown over time is an undeniable warmth and confidence between the two leaders," Campbell said.
Another adviser, Eileen Laubacher, senior director for South Asia at the White House National Security Council, added that Biden and Modi were "so comfortable discussing, really, the breadth of things that we're trying to accomplish together."
A joint statement issued after the meeting reaffirmed U.S.-India partnerships on several fronts, especially with regard to computer chips, telecommunications, higher education, access to shipping lanes in the Indo-Pacific and the reduction of carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Biden also congratulated Modi on India's recent moon landing.
While India was disappointed that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to attend the G20, those absences could give Biden the space to further stitch together U.S. and India ties.
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That's a wrap on day one of my visit to New Delhi for the G20. pic.twitter.com/W1dmsgFM9u
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 8, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">That's a wrap on day one of my visit to New Delhi for the G20. pic.twitter.com/W1dmsgFM9u
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 8, 2023That's a wrap on day one of my visit to New Delhi for the G20. pic.twitter.com/W1dmsgFM9u
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 8, 2023
"There are undeniable opportunities here for the United States," Campbell said. "We fully intend to strengthen and deepen our relationship. We leave it to China, in particular, to discuss and explain why they're not here."
Campbell also suggested that a that a major infrastructure and communications project to connect India with the Middle East and Europe will be announced soon.
But when asked if Biden pushed Modi on press access and broader democratic issues in India, Campbell said Biden tries to be clear about issues critical to the health of democracy. Still, Campbell declined to get into specifics, saying the president "has determined that he wants to conduct that dialogue in a dignified, respectful way."
The U.S. president received a Bollywood-style greeting after Air Force One landed, with dancers in flowing purple outfits gyrating to pop music.
Having feted Modi with a state visit to Washington in June, Biden is banking on the idea that successful diplomacy depends on personal connections. But it's a relationship largely being explored in private. White House reporters traveling with Biden were denied access to the leaders' meeting. Indian state media shared visuals of the meeting on social media.
Biden and Modi have had more than a dozen in-person or virtual engagements since 2021 as both look to tighten the U.S.-India partnership amid shared major concerns. Those include an increasingly assertive China and monumental challenges posed by climate change, artificial intelligence, global supply chain resilience and other issues.
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