U.S. President, Joe Biden hailed the ‘new era’ in the relations of his country and India by describing it as a tie between ‘two great nations, two great friends, two great powers’.
Biden stated this after the White House threw out the red carpet for the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi on Thursday, citing agreements on military and commerce geared at limiting China’s influence globally
“Two great nations, two great friends, and two great powers. Cheers,” Biden told Modi in a toast at a state dinner. Modi said in reply: “You are soft spoken, but when it comes to action, you are very strong.”
“The challenges and opportunities facing the world in this century require that India and the United States work and lead together, and we are,” Biden said as he welcomed Modi to the White House.
India has traditionally cherished its independence, and the two nations are not formally allied, but Washington wants Delhi to provide a strategic counterweight to China. Although neither leader specifically condemned Beijing in their official statements, they made references to the Xi Jinping-led administration.
“The dark clouds of coercion and confrontation are casting their shadow in the Indo Pacific. The stability of the region has become one of the central concerns of our partnership,” Modi said.
After Biden and Modi spoke privately for more than two hours, a joint statement included a warning of rising tensions and destabilizing actions in the East and South China Sea and stressed the importance of international law and freedom of navigation.
The state dinner, held in a large, elaborately erected tent on the White House South Lawn, featured a number of Silicon Valley executives on the guest list, including Apple’s Tim Cook, 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, among others.
With 1.4 billion people and the fifth-largest economy in the world, Modi is attempting to elevate India’s position as a manufacturing and diplomatic powerhouse on the international arena while navigating tense relations with China.
It was the first time in Modi’s nine-year rule that he took questions in this style, and his participation in a White House press conference was itself a reflection of the conflicting political traditions. He answered one question each from an American and an Indian journalist who had been preselected, and he dismissed criticism of India’s record on human rights.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then