NEW DELHI — President Joe Biden opened his visit to India on Friday by meeting privately with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indian leader’s home in a session the White House said was marked by “undeniable warmth and confidence” in one another going into the annual Group of 20 summit where climate, economic security and more will dominate the weekend’s talks.
Biden spent 52 minutes with Modi after a lavish welcome ceremony at the airport, and Kurt Campbell, a Biden adviser on the Indo-Pacific, told reporters afterward that warm sentiments have replaced a sense of distrust and uncertainty that previously defined relations between the two countries.
“What I have seen grown over time is an undeniable warmth and confidence between the two leaders,” Campbell said.
Another adviser, Eileen Laubacher, senior director for South Asia at the White House National Security Council, added that Biden and Modi were “so comfortable discussing, really, the breadth of things that we’re trying to accomplish together.”
A joint statement issued after the meeting reaffirmed U.S.-India partnerships on several fronts, especially with regard to computer chips, telecommunications, higher education, access to shipping lanes in the Indo-Pacific and the reduction of carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Biden also congratulated Modi on India’s recent moon landing.
While India was disappointed that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to attend the G20, those absences could give Biden the space to further stitch together U.S. and India ties.
“There are undeniable opportunities here for the United States,” Campbell said. “We fully intend to strengthen and deepen our relationship. We leave it to China, in particular, to discuss and explain why they’re not here.”
Campbell also suggested that a major infrastructure and communications project to connect India with the Middle East and Europe will be announced…
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