US Prez Biden tells PM Modi will make the India-US partnership “closest on earth”
India and United States on Tuesday resolved to strengthen their robust ties and vowed to work together for a more prosperous, free, and secure world. President Joe Biden said he is committed to making the India-US partnership “among the closest we have on earth,” while Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the relations as “a partnership of trust.” The two leaders held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the QUAD summit in Tokyo and also committed to bilateral defence and economic engagements.
Biden appreciated Modi for handling the Covid pandemic successfully in a democratic manner. He contrasted India’s success with China’s failure to handle the pandemic, though both countries are of comparable size, sources said. These remarks by the US president were made during the closed-door QUAD summit, they said. Biden also told Modi that he is committed to making US partnership with India ‘among the closest on earth,” saying there is so much that the two countries can and will do together.
As regards the US, Modi described the relationship with India as a “partnership of trust.” The Prime Minister in a tweet said after meeting with Biden, said: “today’s discussions were wide-ranging and covered multiple aspects of India-US ties including trade, investment, defence as well as people-to-people linkages.” In his opening remarks at the meeting, the Prime Minister said the strategic relationship between India and the US is truly a “partnership of trust” and the friendship will continue to be a “force for good” for global peace and stability.
Modi invited the US industries to partner with India to manufacture in the defence sector under the Make in India programmes. Following the talks between the two leaders in Tokyo, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said both sides launched an India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) to facilitate outcome-oriented cooperation in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 5G and 6G, biotech, space, and semiconductors. The new mechanism under the iCET will be co-led by India’s National Security Council Secretariat and the US National Security Council.
The MEA said India and the US also extended the longstanding Vaccine Action Programme (VAP) until 2027 to continue joint biomedical research which had resulted in the development of vaccines and related technologies.
A White House readout said Biden condemned Russia’s “unjustifiable war” against Ukraine and that the leaders discussed how to cooperate to manage disruptions caused by the war, especially the rise in energy and food prices to protect their respective citizens and the world. The White House readout said the two leaders committed to deepening the “major defence partnership“, encouraging economic engagement that benefits both countries, and expanding the partnership on global health, pandemic preparedness, and critical and emerging technologies. It said they looked forward to enhancing the partnership to accelerate
India’s just energy transition, including through the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership, especially in the areas of renewables deployment, decarbonizing the energy and industrial sectors, zero-emissions vehicles, and mobilizing related investment in India. The leaders committed to continue providing humanitarian assistance, and discussed how to cooperate to manage disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine, in particular the rise in energy and food prices, to protect their respective citizens and the world,” the White House said.
It said the two sides announced India’s joining the Combined Military Forces-Bahrain as an associate member. In his televised remarks, Modi said the two countries have shared values and common interests in many areas, including security, and they have strengthened the bonds of trust.
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