On the second day of the Indian prime minister’s state visit, Joe Biden declared that the US-India relationship had never been stronger and announced a number of new business deals, but Narendra Modi’s trip has been kept by controversy as many demands that Biden address India’s ongoing suppression of press and religious freedoms.
The highest-ranking diplomatic invitation given to a foreign head of state is an official state visit, which reveals the US president’s priorities in terms of national security as his administration seeks to work with India as a partner to counter China.
In a joint press conference with Modi, Biden referred to the US-India relationship as “more dynamic than at any time in history” and said it was among the most important in the entire world.
The US president stated, “We discussed our shared efforts to mitigate humanitarian tragedies caused by Russia’s ruthless war in Ukraine and to defend core principles of the UN charter.” Modi has already come under fire for not denouncing Russia’s war in Ukraine with greater vigor.
“Peace and security in the Indo-Pacific is our priority,” Modi declared. “India and the United States fight terrorism and fundamentalism side by side.”
When questioned about the state of democracy and human rights in India, Biden responded, “The prime minister and I had a good discussion about democratic values – that’s the nature of our relationship, we’re straightforward with each other.”
Modi claimed that the criticism stunned him. Discrimination has no place at all, he declared. “In India, everyone has access to the government benefits.”
A deal allowing US-based General Electric to collaborate with Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics to manufacture jet engines for Indian aircraft in India and the sale of armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones were two of the announcements made on Thursday.
Additionally, the Biden administration unveiled strategies to support India’s semiconductor sector.
“We made critical and emerging technologies the pillar of our next-generation partnership to ensure these technologies promote and protect our values, and remain open, accessible, trusted, and secure,” added Biden. “All of this matters for India, for America, and for the entire world.”
Prior to their private meeting and state supper, Modi was greeted by thousands of Indian Americans and other visitors on the south lawn of the White House on Thursday morning. On Thursday afternoon, Modi, who has been the prime minister of India since 2014, also spoke to a joint meeting of Congress.
Numerous protesters gathered close to the White House gates at the same time to voice their opposition to the visit. Human rights activists have charged Modi and the BJP, his political party, with supporting the growth of Hindu nationalism-related violence and discriminating against India’s Muslim minority.
Husnaa Vhora, the advocacy associate for the DC-based non-profit Indian American Muslim Council, said: “The fact that Modi has been invited despite being complicit with innocent people being killed since 2002 when he was the chief minister [of Gujarat] is devastating for our communities because it just says it’s OK what you do back home but you can still come here.”
In a letter to the president on Tuesday, dozens of lawmakers urged Biden to raise concerns about India’s human rights issues with Modi. They urged him to bring up the “shrinking of political space, the rise of religious intolerance, the targeting of civil society organizations and journalists, and growing restrictions on press freedoms and internet access.”
A small number of Muslim lawmakers, including Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, abstained from Modi’s speech to Congress. The message of the Indian leader was one of harmony.
“The beauty of democracy is the constant connection with the people, to listen to them and feel their pulse,” declared Modi as he made his way to the front and shook hands with cheering Congress members. He had already spoken before both chambers of Congress once, in 2016. In his speech on Thursday, Modi asserted that “we are home to all faiths in the world, and we celebrate all of them.”
As was to be expected, Biden struck a compromise between the US’s desire to strengthen ties with India, a significant commercial partner and a counterweight to China, and the worries of lawmakers and human rights organizations.
“China is in the background of all of these meetings,” claimed Tamanna Salikuddin, director of South Asia projects at the unbiased US Institute of Peace. “The US and India have actually come around on China.”
Since 2020, there have been fatal clashes along India’s border with China, and everyone is now concerned about the Indo-Pacific’s security. She asserted that “India is, in my opinion, one of our key allies in [the Biden administration’s] Indo-Pacific strategy.”