Joe Biden thanked Prime Minister Modi for his leadership and hospitality at the G20 (File)
Hanoi:
US President Joe Biden on Sunday said he has had “substantial discussions” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on ways to strengthen the Indo-US partnership and thanked him for his leadership in hosting the G20 summit in New Delhi.
Joe Biden said he also raised the importance of respecting human rights with Prime Minister Modi.
President Biden, who arrived in Delhi on his first visit to India as US President, held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Modi and they pledged to ‘deepen and diversify’ the bilateral major defense partnership while welcoming progress in the procurement of 31 drones by India. and joint development of jet engines.
“I would like to once again thank Prime Minister Modi for his leadership and his hospitality and for hosting the G20. He and I have had substantial discussions on how we will strengthen the India-US partnership, building on the Prime Minister. Secretary of State visit to the White House last June,” Joe Biden said at a press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam
“As I always do, I joined Prime Minister Modi in raising the importance of respecting human rights and the crucial role that civil society and a free press play in building a strong and prosperous country,” he said .
According to the joint statement issued on Friday after Prime Minister Modi and Biden held bilateral talks, “the leaders reemphasized that the shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights, inclusion, pluralism and equal opportunity for all citizens are critical to the success of our countries enjoy and that these values strengthen our relationship.” Joe Biden also spoke about the “important things” he had done at the G20 summit in India.
“This was an important moment for the United States to demonstrate our global leadership and commitment to solving the challenges that matter most to people around the world. Investing in inclusive growth and sustainable development, tackling the climate crisis, strengthening food security and education, promoting global health and health security,” he said.
“We showed the world that the United States is a partner with a positive vision for our shared future,” he added.
On the corridor connecting India to Europe with the Middle East and Israel, he said it will provide unprecedented opportunities for transformative economic investments.
He said the “illegal war in Ukraine” was also discussed at the summit and there was sufficient agreement on the need for a just and lasting peace.
In response to questions, President Biden said his goal is to provide stability around the world by building America’s ties with Vietnam and other Asian countries, while emphasizing that he is not trying to start a “cold war” with China to start.
“It’s not about containing China. It’s about having a stable base,” Biden said.
Joe Biden also said he met with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang on the sidelines of the G20 in Delhi and “talked about stability.” “It wasn’t confrontational at all,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
