Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his first in-person meeting with US President Joe Biden on Friday, discussed wide-ranging issues of common interest, from intensifying trade and investments to controlling terror.
Modi, who is on a four-day official visit to the US, went into the meeting with Biden with a full agenda of urgent matters such as the on-going political crisis in Afghanistan, tackling global terrorism, increasing trade and investment, strengthening security and defence partnership, continued co-operation to deal with Covid-19 and meeting climate goals.
“Today’s bilateral summit is important. We are meeting at the start of the third decade of this century. Your leadership will certainly play an important role in how this decade is shaped. The seeds have been sown for an even stronger friendship between India and USA,” said Modi at the bilateral meet.
Trade talks
Modi is hopeful of adding momentum to trade talks between India and the US which had slackened when an India-US limited trade pact being worked out with the Donald Trump regime did not take off due to steep demands from Washington on agricultural commodities and medical equipment. Response to the Taliban that has taken control of Kabul and is forming a government there is also an important area for discussion.
“Technology is becoming a driving force. We have to utilise our talents to leverage technology for greater global good,” Modi tweeted.
“I look forward to strengthening the deep ties between our two nations, working to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific, and tackling everything from Covid-19 to climate change,” Biden said in a tweet.
Modi met US Vice-President Kamala Harris on Thursday, where he stressed the similarities between the world’s two largest and oldest democracies.
“I met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reaffirm the strategic partnership between the US and India. Working together, we can make progress on important global issues, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the climate crisis, to strengthening and defending democracy,” Harris said in a tweet on Friday.
