While the two leaders have met earlier when Biden was the Vice President of the country, this is for the first time that Biden will be meeting Modi after he became the 46th president of the US in January.
Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi spent Friday in the company of United States President Joe Biden, first at their meeting in the Oval Office at the White House, then at the QUAD Summit.
Indian nationals stuck in Ukraine should stay calm and remain wherever they are residing, Russian diplomatic sources said on Friday amid India's diplomatic overdrive to evacuate its citizens from the eastern European nation.
India and the US are the world's largest democracies and the two countries are committed to taking on the toughest challenges together, President Joe Biden said after his first-ever in-person meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.
In their first summit, the leaders of Quad countries on Friday decided to launch a mega vaccine initiative under which coronavirus vaccines will be produced in India for the Indo-Pacific region with financial assistance from the United States and Japan while Australia will contribute in logistical aspects.
The prime minister in his intervention at the session on "global economy and global health" also flagged the issue of facilitating international travel and talked about the mechanism of mutual recognition of vaccine certification as a means of achieving this, according to the text of his intervention shared by his office.
The government is making efforts to evacuate Indian nationals from Ukraine through its land border crossings with its neighbouring countries and they would then be brought back home, official sources said on Friday.
Shringla said that diplomacy is looking at a very changed scenario in terms of how statecraft and relations between countries work in the wake of the pandemic.
"They are extending support as they feel that this is the time we must help India. 'India has helped us and we must help India'. So I do not think we are looking at it in policy terms," the foreign secretary said.
"The issue of CAA did not come up. However, with regard to religious freedom, there is an appreciation on both sides that pluralism and diversity are common binding factors in both the countries. US President Donald Trump yesterday in Ahmedabad said about the religious diversity and how it is evident in India," Shringla said during a press conference after India-US talks.
Harsh Vardhan Shringla said New Delhi's move to abrogate Jammu and Kashmir's special status last month and bifurcate it into Union territories was done for the 'benefit' of the people.
Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently posted as high commissioner of India in Sri Lanka.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, meanwhile, said the sixth flight under India's evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga' left for Delhi from Budapest with 240 Indian nationals.
The envoy said India has been successful in articulating its case with the international community including the US.
Known to be having extensive expertise in dealing with India's neighbourhood as well as the US, China and Europe, the 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer pipped nearly half-a-dozen others in the race for the coveted post including Indian High Commissioner to UK Gaitri Issar Kumar (1986-batch IFS) and Ruchira Kamboj (1987 batch IFS).
It was the second time in the last three days that India asserted that the relationship with China depends on the resolution of the pending issues in eastern Ladakh.
'When the decision was announced, the possibilities of cross border infiltration and terrorism, we know that there would be incitement to violence. We have simply taken preventive steps'
You will be part of fastest growing major global economy, India's ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringala told young American students.
It is understood that India's border row with China figured in the talks between Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale though there was no mention of it in the press statements issued by the two sides.
In October 2018, India had signed a US$ 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions.
India has been in touch with all parties concerned as part of overall global efforts to bring down the tensions.
India's security concerns will be the "first and foremost" and at the"front and centre" for Washington, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Wednesday on New Delhi's apprehensions about the spill over of terrorist activity from Afghanistan.
In an address at a leading think-tank in Paris, Shringla mentioned two recent terrorist incidents in France, one of which he said had its origins in Pakistan, noting that the civilised world needs to act with firmness to address the threat of terrorism.
After an official meeting with their respective officials in attendance, Kamala and Narendra then moved to the balcony of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building where the leaders had an animated chat.
India on Friday said the onus is on China to address the remaining unresolved issues relating to the eastern Ladakh row and that peace and tranquillity along the frontier were key for the restoration of normal relations between the two sides.
Stepping up its efforts to evacuate Indian students stranded in war-hit Ukraine, the Centre on Monday decided that Union ministers Hardeep Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and V K Singh will travel to its neighbouring countries to coordinate the evacuation mission and help students, government sources said.
"As far as the US is concerned, we have certainly reached a level of no return. In other words, we have developed today what we call a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. "We are cooperating across the board on areas that are of mutual interest to both our countries," said Shringla.
Shringla visited Dhaka in March last after assuming office of the Indian Foreign Secretary in January this year.
If the visit takes place, it will be the first trip by a senior Chinese leader to India after the eastern Ladakh standoff between the two countries began in May 2020.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla terms India's relationship with China as "complex".
'The US President is joining the Prime Minister in addressing a huge Indian diaspora event in Houston and they will also meet on the margins of the UNGA in New York'
The last commercial flight between India and Afghanistan was operated by Air India on Kabul-Delhi route on August 15, the day Kabul fell to the Taliban.
Asserting that sovereignty and territorial integrity of China are "sacred and inviolable", the country's national legislature has adopted a new law on the protection and exploitation of the land border areas, which could have bearing on Beijing's border dispute with India.
Jaishankar said he emphasised that India supports diplomacy and dialogue as the "way out".
The students, most of whom are studying in Sumy State Medical University, said they fear for their safety as gunshots can be heard outside.
Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale, currently the country's Ambassador to Germany, has been appointed as the Ambassador to China to replace Ashok Kantha, whose term will end in early January.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed the leaders on the latest situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban captured power there last week.
Mizintsev said that places for temporary accommodation and rest have been set up at the checkpoints.
In a statement just before leaving for the US, Modi said he will conclude his visit with an address at the United Nations General Assembly focusing on the pressing global challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to combat terrorism, climate change and other important issues.
Addressing the G-20 University Connect initiative, the first event of India's presidency of the grouping, Jaishankar said it would also be India's endeavour to emerge as the voice of the Global South -- comprising Asia, Africa and Latin America -- that has to face the brunt of polarisation and conflict in the developed world.
