US President Joe Biden praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic visit to Ukraine last month and his message of peace.
Biden and Modi discussed a wide range of topics during the bilateral meeting and discussed global challenges, including the situation in the war-torn Ukraine.
Prime Minister Modi is on a three-day visit to the US. Biden hosted Modi at his private residence in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday afternoon.
Responding to a question on dealing with the Ukraine crisis, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters that “very important” discussions were ongoing with all parties to the conflict.
According to a joint fact sheet issued regarding the meeting, during the talks, Biden told the Indian Prime Minister that the US supports initiatives to reform global institutions to reflect India's important voice, including the demand to make India a permanent member by changing the United Nations Security Council. Modi and Biden's talks mainly focused on bilateral relations, but the two leaders also discussed major global challenges, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.
The fact sheet said President Biden “highly appreciated” India's leading role on the global stage, particularly Modi's leadership in the G-20 and the Global South, and his commitment to strengthening the Quad to ensure an independent, free and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
It said India is at the forefront of efforts to address major challenges, from supporting global efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic to tackling the devastating consequences of conflicts across the world.
The fact sheet said, “President Biden praised Prime Minister Modi for his historic visits to Poland and Ukraine, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in decades. He also appreciated humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and Modi's message of peace, including cooperation in the energy sector…''
Modi is understood to have briefed Biden on his visit to Moscow in July and Kyiv last month.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, when asked at a press conference to what extent the Russia-Ukraine conflict was discussed between the two leaders and whether the Indian side mentioned any peace proposal, only said that New Delhi is involved in the talks.
He said, “I want to re-emphasize that we are engaged in continuous dialogue with negotiators from all sides.”
He said, “Obviously people value India's participation in these talks and we have been able to talk to many interlocutors. There is no result expected at this stage because there is still a lot of work to be done.”
He said that at this moment, very important conversations are taking place with various people from all sides of this conflict.
During his visit to Ukraine on August 23, Prime Minister Modi told Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time and end the war and that India is ready to play an “active role” in restoring peace in the region.
In their meeting, Modi and Biden reaffirmed their support for freedom of navigation and security of commerce across all routes, including those critical sea lanes in West Asia, where India will co-lead Combined Task Force 150 in 2025, working with joint maritime forces to secure sea lanes in the Arabian Sea, the fact sheet said.
It said the leaders expressed their view that a close US-India partnership is critical to the success of efforts to build a cleaner, more inclusive, more secure, and more prosperous future for the earth.
“President Biden and Prime Minister Modi appreciated the significant arrangement to establish a new semiconductor manufacturing plant focused on green energy applications and next-generation telecommunications, advanced sensing, communications and power electronics for national security,” the fact sheet said.
He also praised the new strategic partnership between the US Department of State and the India Semiconductor Mission, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, regarding the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund.
Prime Minister Modi and the US President welcomed steps taken to build safe, secure and resilient supply chains for the US, Indian and international automotive markets, including the submission of a Letter of Intent by Ford Motor Company to use its Chennai plant for manufacturing for export to global markets.
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