Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday opened a state visit to Washington as the US steps up its wooing of India despite simmering disagreements on Ukraine and human rights.
US President Joe Biden is putting on the full pomp for only the third state visitor of his administration, with India seen as a pivotal partner in a growing global competition with China.
Modi — flying in from New York, where he exerted Indian soft power with a public yoga demonstration — began his visit with a private dinner with Biden at the White House.
Photo: AFP
Modi was yesterday to be welcomed with full military honors at the White House, as well as address a joint session of the US Congress and be feted by a state dinner.
The White House tapped a top California-based plant-based chef for the dinner for Modi, who is a strict vegetarian.
Unusual for a leader who often criticizes the media, the White House said that Modi would take questions alongside Biden.
People following the trip expect a series of significant announcements, including a deal for General Electric to supply engines for India’s first domestically made fighter jets.
The world’s two largest democracies are likely to make announcements on climate, one area where the two countries have long clashed, albeit politely, on the responsibilities of developed versus developing countries.
The US has been seeking a closer relationship with India since the late 1990s, seeing the nation as like-minded on the challenges of China and of radical Islamism.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the visit, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby played down the connection to China — which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited earlier in the week in a bid to lower the temperature after soaring tensions.
“It’s not about sending a message to China,” Kirby said.
“We are deepening and continuing to improve this partnership with India, which we believe has truly become a force for global good. And we know that India is going to be a strategic partner for decades to come,” he said.
However, India is “showing a growing commitment to being more engaged in the Indo-Pacific,” he added.
It is Modi’s first state visit to Washington, an honor extended to his center-left predecessor former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh by former US president Barack Obama.
However, Biden has already welcomed Modi as part of a summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue — an initiative of four democracies including Japan and Australia that is widely seen as countering China’s influence in Asia.
The Biden administration has vowed a greater focus globally on human rights, but has kept a light touch with Modi, who has faced mounting criticism from human rights groups.
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