Global Courant 2023-05-10 19:08:51
Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington is intended to reaffirm “the deep and close cooperation” between the US and India, the White House says.
US President Joe Biden will host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next month in Washington, D.C., the White House has announced, on a trip the Biden administration says aims to “affirm the deep and close partnership” between the two countries .
In a rack On Wednesday, the White House said Modi will make an official state visit to the United States capital on June 22, including a state dinner.
“The forthcoming visit will confirm the deep and close cooperation between the United States and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that bind Americans and Indians together,” the statement said.
The US and India have maintained close ties for decades, particularly on defense and trade, and this will be Modi’s first state visit to the country.
But ties between the two nations have been tested in recent months over a range of issues, including concerns over the Indian government’s human rights record and its relationship with Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
Biden and Modi held a virtual meeting in April 2022 as Washington attempted to push New Delhi to put economic pressure on Moscow over its invasion of its neighbour.
The US president told the Indian prime minister at the time that the US could help India diversify its oil imports, but that it was not in the country’s interest to increase energy imports from Russia, a spokesman for the UN said. White House.
Meanwhile, an independent US commission earlier this month recommended adding India to a religious freedom blacklist for the fourth year in a row, saying conditions in the country for religious minorities were “worsening” in 2022.
These reports from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) have sparked anger from Indian officials. Last year Arindam Bagchi, the spokesman for India’s foreign ministry, accused senior US officials of making “ill-informed” and “biased” comments.
Nevertheless, Modi’s invitation to Washington, DC comes as both India and the US seek support against China’s growing assertiveness.
In its statement on Wednesday, the White House said the upcoming talks between Biden and Modi will also reinforce their respective countries’ “shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific.”
“Leaders will discuss ways to further expand our educational exchanges and interpersonal bonds, as well as our collaboration to address common challenges, from climate change to workforce development and health security,” said the Biden administration.
Modi visited Biden at the White House in 2021, but as part of a summit for the so-called “Quad” grouping – the US, Australia, Japan and India – which is trying to counter China’s rising influence in the Pacific.
The relationship between Washington and Beijing has grown in tension in recent years as the US prioritized strategic competition with China in its foreign policy under former President Donald Trump, a position Biden fully embraced.
