PM Modi, US President Joe Biden engage in first bilateral meeting at White House

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday. This is the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders and PM Modi's seventh visit to the White House. PM Modi is accompanied by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

"I thank you for the warm welcome accorded to me & my delegation. Earlier, we had an opportunity to hold discussions, & at that time you had laid out the vision for India-US bilateral relations. Today, you are taking initiatives to implement your vision for India-US relations," PM Modi told Joe Biden at the bilateral meeting, reported ANI.

At the meeting, as reported by ANI, Biden said, "I've long believed that US-India relationship can help us solve a lot of global challenges. In fact, back in 2006, I had said that by 2020 India & the US will be among the closest nations in the world".

"Trade holds importance on its own between India & the US. In this decade, we can be complementary to each other. There are many things with the US, that are needed by India and many things with India that can be useful for the US. Trade will be a major sector in this decade," said PM Modi, according to ANI.

PM Modi and US President Joe Biden are expected to discuss a wide range of priority issues such as combating COVID-19, climate change, economic cooperation as well as Afghanistan.

Shortly before the meeting, US President Joe Biden had tweeted, "This morning I'm hosting Indian PM 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 & open Indo-Pacific, and tackling everything from COVID-19 to climate change".

The two leaders had met earlier when Biden was serving as the Vice President of the United States. This is the first meeting between the two leaders since Biden become the 46th president of the US in January 2021.

Ahead of the visit, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had stated that Modi and Biden are expected to focus on further bolstering bilateral trade and investment ties, strengthening defence and security collaboration and boosting the strategic clean energy partnership.

"The bilateral meeting (between Modi and Biden) will also feature the current regional security situation following recent developments in Afghanistan, our stakes as a neighbour and a longstanding and a preferred development partner of Afghanistan," Shringla had said.

"In this context, we would undoubtedly discuss the need to stem radicalism, extremism, cross-border terrorism and the dismantling of global terrorist networks," Shringla added.

Also Read: Modi-Biden meet: Covid, climate change, economy, Afghanistan on agenda

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