Students give final touches to paintings of U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at an art school in Mumbai ahead of the two-day G20 summit in Recent Delhi, Sept. 5, 2023.
Punit Paranjpe | AFP | Getty Images
President Joe Biden kicked off his visit to India with a personal meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the leaders discussed democracy and joint technology and infrastructure projects.
In a joint statement after the meeting at Modi’s home, the leaders agreed to proceed motion on many fronts, including semiconductors, higher education, reducing carbon emissions, 5G and 6G technology and shipping lane access within the Indo-Pacific.
Kurt Campbell, a Biden advisor on the Indo-Pacific, said the 2 leaders have formed a growing bond “over a series of meetings and shared projects and ambitions during the last several years.”
Biden is in Recent Delhi for the Group of 20 summit and doesn’t have another formal bilateral meetings scheduled apart from his visit with Modi but will mingle with world leaders on the summit. The president in June hosted Modi at a lavish state dinner on the White House.
“The indisputable fact that the US — probably the country that India has invested probably the most in deepening and developing a relationship with — showed up and is engaged in every major initiative that shall be rolled out over the following couple of days was price reassuring and gratifying for Indian interlocutors and that was not lost on us,” Campbell said.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also participated within the meeting on the U.S. side, in keeping with the White House. The Indian delegation included External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Campbell said it was a “disappointment for India” that the leaders of China and Russia skipped the summit but noted “there are undeniable opportunities here for the US.”
“We fully intend to strengthen and deepen our relationship,” Campbell said. “We leave it to China, particularly, to debate and explain why they are not here.”
