(Washington) President Joe Biden received Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House with great fanfare on Thursday, confirming the United States’ desire to nurture relations with this strategic partner.
“The partnership between our two countries is stronger than ever” and is “rooted in democracy, human rights, freedom and the rule of law”, declared the American president, receiving the Indian leader for an interview in the Oval Office.
He had recently estimated that the relationship between the United States and India would be one of the “most significant of the 21e century”, also insisting before Mr. Modi on the values of “freedom of expression and religious pluralism”.
Narendra Modi is accused by a number of associations of fueling the persecutions against the Muslim minority in Kashmir, and of putting pressure both on the press and on the political opposition.
But India represents a vital partner for the United States in the context of competition with China and President Biden has rolled out the red carpet for it.
The Indian Prime Minister’s state visit should also lead to major contracts in defense and industry in particular.
He was welcomed into the White House with full military honours. Several thousand members of the Indian community in the United States, some in traditional garb, greeted him with cries of “Modi, Modi”.
Mr. Modi stressed that “societies and institutions in both the United States and India are founded on democratic values”, adding that both countries take “pride in their diversity”.
The two leaders, who will issue a joint statement, will address the press and answer their questions, a rare event for the Hindu nationalist head of government.
Narendra Modi is then to address Congress before an elegant gala dinner on the White House lawns around a menu which, in his honor, will be vegetarian and inspired by Indian cuisine.
The visit is not to everyone’s taste: Democratic parliamentarians, allies of the president, have announced their intention to boycott the Indian leader’s speech in Congress, questioning respect for human rights and freedom of religion in India .
“Pioneer”
The strongest announcement Thursday will relate to the future manufacture in India of F-414 engines for fighter jets by the General Electric conglomerate, said a senior American official during an interview with reporters.
This same source, who requested anonymity, considered that it was a “pioneering initiative”, synonymous with significant transfers of American technology.
The same senior official also indicated that India was “committed to acquiring American combat drones” and added, without giving details: “We are absolutely delighted”.
Joe Biden can indeed only be delighted to see India diversifying its defense equipment, which is historically very dependent on Russia in this area.
Narendra Modi will be able to tell him that he is strengthening the Indian industrial fabric thanks to the announcement of General Electric, but also thanks to the initiative of another large American company, this time in the field of semiconductors.
The American group Micron, heavyweight in the manufacture of these essential computer components, will indeed, according to another senior American official, announce an investment of more than 800 million dollars in a factory in India.
The senior official said that it was for the United States and India to build a “semiconductor ecosystem that allows for the diversification of supply chains”, which the COVID-19 pandemic has shown to how fragile they could be.
Joe Biden and Narendra Modi, on their first state visit to the United States, will also, according to senior White House officials, announce joint initiatives in space exploration and strategic metals, as well as as maritime partnerships and the opening of consulates.
The American president wants to believe that the ambitions of China, which worry New Delhi and which Washington makes a point of countering, will convince India to make a counterweight by turning more towards America.
To strengthen the bilateral relationship, the 80-year-old Democrat, who has promised to articulate his foreign policy around the defense of democracy, should avoid tackling the issue of human rights and freedoms too directly with the Indian Prime Minister.