Biden renews effort to woo India’s Modi in talks before G20 summit
BY Nirendra Dev
The US is trying gradually to make the traditionally neutral India a more explicit partner and part of a wider political and defence alliance in the Indo-Pacific.
The White House said in a statement after the meeting that Biden welcomed the joint commitment to democratic values, and specifically that he welcomed an Indian defence department request to buy US-built remotely controlled aircraft.
India has a number of disputes with China but it has been wary of joining an implicitly anti-Beijing alliance. Kurt Campbell, the White House Indo-Pacific envoy, said relations with India continued to be a work in progress.
The two leaders agreed to progress agreements reached in June, when Modi visited Washington, including a deal to allow General Electric to produce jet engines in India to power Indian military aircraft.
The US does not expect to make immediate progress in shifting India from its largely neutral stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine but believes that if it can start to replace Russia as a leading arms supplier to Delhi, India will have greater latitude to criticise Moscow.
The episode with the journalists accompanying Biden underlined the state of press freedom in India despite the two leaders’ stated shared commitment to democracy. The prime minister’s office released a handful of official photographs of the meeting, showing the two leaders seated side by side and chatting amiably.
Biden decided to delay his planned post-summit press conference and hold it at his next stop in Vietnam, reflecting the tight press controls being mounted by the Indian security services, says ‘The Guardian’ article.