Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on Friday. The bilateral meeting between the two leaders was the first since Biden assumed office in January this year. “I would like to thank the US President for the warm welcome. I recall our interactions in 2014 and 2016. That time you had shared your vision for ties between India and USA. I am glad to see you are working to realise this vision,” PM Modi said.
This was the first time PM Narendra Modi and Joe Biden met for a one-on-one after the latter assumed the Presidency. The last meeting between the two leaders was in 2014 when Joe Biden was the Vice President of the US while PM Modi had just taken over the Prime Ministerial post in India. The US President pointed that from here on begins a new chapter in Indo – US relationships. PM Modi said that the bilateral meeting with President Biden presented them the opportunity to discuss all the issues, relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and Quad, in detail. PM Modi also took the opportunity to highlight the importance of trade between India and the US. PM Modi invoked Mahatma Gandhi and said,” Mahatma Gandhi always used to say about trusteeship of the planet. This sentiment of trusteeship is the need of the hour globally.” President Biden noted that millions of India-Americans are making his country ‘stronger’. “Today we begin a new chapter in Indo-US relationships. Four Million Indian Americans everyday making America stronger,” Biden said.
Ahead of the bilateral meet, President Joe Biden had tweeted, “This morning I’m hosting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House for a bilateral meeting. I look forward to strengthening the deep ties between our two nations, working to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific, and tackling everything from COVID-19 to climate change.”
