Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden held a productive bilateral meeting on Friday at Modi’s official residence in New Delhi. The two leaders discussed a wide range of topics, including ways to strengthen economic and people-to-people ties between India and the United States. The meeting also took place ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, which will be held in New Delhi on September 9-10. Modi and Biden are expected to continue their discussions on the sidelines of the summit.
In a social media post, Modi said that the talks were “fruitful” and that he was “confident that the friendship between our nations will continue to play a great role in furthering global good.”
Happy to have welcomed @POTUS @JoeBiden to 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. Our meeting was very productive. We were able to discuss numerous topics which will further economic and people-to-people linkages between India and USA. The friendship between our nations will continue to play a… pic.twitter.com/Yg1tz9kGwQ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 8, 2023
In a Joint statement issued after the meeting, both the leaders agreed to continue the work of transforming the India-U.S. Strategic Partnership. Prime Minister Modi and President Biden reaffirmed the importance of the Quad in supporting a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific.
President Biden lauded India’s G20 Presidency for further demonstrating on how the G20 as a forum is delivering important outcomes. As per the statement, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the G20 and expressed confidence that the outcomes of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi will advance the shared goals of accelerating sustainable development, bolstering multilateral cooperation and scaling up multilateral development banks.
President Biden reaffirmed his support for a reformed UN Security Council with India as a permanent member, and, in this context, he welcomed once again India’s candidature for the UNSC non-permanent seat in 2028-29. Biden congratulated Modi on Chandrayaan-3’s historic landing in the south polar region of the Moon, as well as the successful launch of India’s first solar mission, Aditya-L1.
The White House said that the two leaders welcomed the growing number of educational partnerships between India and the United States. They also agreed to work together to promote policies that would facilitate greater technology sharing and collaboration between the two countries.
In addition to his meeting with President Biden, Prime Minister Modi also held productive bilateral talks with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.