US President Joe Biden on Saturday rolled out the red carpet to welcome leaders of Quad countries, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Anthony Albanese from Australia and Fumio Kishida of Japan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden will have a substantive engagement on the sidelines of the Quad summit on Saturday, and the two sides will sign at least two agreements following the talks.
The White House readout of the call had no reference to Bangladesh, which was mentioned in an 'X' post by PM Modi.
'...it should not delude itself into thinking that India's security or its great-power ambitions will be advanced by those partnerships.'
'Instead, what India should focus on is on riding out the next three-and-a-half years of Trump's presidency with minimal damage to itself.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held bilateral talks with Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni in Bari during which they discussed defence and security cooperation and hoped for further enhancing the defence industrial collaboration.
A Chinese fighter jet performed an unsafe manoeuvre after it came as close as 20 feet within a United States military aircraft over the South China sea, The Hill reported on Thursday citing the US Indo-Pacific Command.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with President Donald Trump and set the record straight that India had paused strikes on Pakistan during Operation Sindoor following a request from Islamabad and not due to mediation or offer of a trade deal by the United States.
The annual Quad summit at President Joe Biden's hometown Wilmington is expected to roll out a series of new initiatives to boost cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and explore ways to find peaceful solutions to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the US for a two-day working visit starting Wednesday. He will meet with President Donald Trump and engage in bilateral discussions on trade, investment, technology, defense cooperation, counterterrorism, Indo-Pacific security, and people-to-people relations. The visit is expected to further strengthen the India-US partnership.
In the short run, the Trump presidency has already ensured one thing: The assumptions of the past can no longer guide the strategies of the future, points out Manish Dabhade.
India and the United States have agreed to deepen their strategic partnership in several key areas, with President Donald Trump announcing plans to provide India with F-35 fighter jets and billions of dollars in military supplies. The two leaders also discussed energy cooperation, critical technologies, connectivity, and countering terrorism. They agreed to work together on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, and Trump noted India's reforms to welcome US nuclear technologies. Prime Minister Modi said the two countries can shape a better world through their cooperation. Both leaders also addressed the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with Modi stressing India's commitment to peace.
'New Delhi is not naive about its foreign policy choices.'
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday spoke to newly appointed United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken during which they expressed commitment to consolidate and expand the India-US strategic partnership and reiterated commitment to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Modi said Quad is moving ahead with a constructive agenda for the Indo-Pacific
China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. Beijing is also involved in a maritime dispute with Japan over the East China Sea.
New initiatives to boost cooperation to ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific, ways to find peaceful solutions to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and addressing concerns of the global South will be the focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day visit to the US beginning Saturday.
Biden praised India's Covid vaccination efforts.
The US is making investments in defence ties with India to uphold a favourable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, a top Pentagon official told lawmakers Thursday indicating that strengthening ties with New Delhi is one of the key factors to address the pacing challenge from China.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh arrives to visit the United States Indo-Pacific Command headquarters and the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii.
The leaders of the Quad comprising India, the United States, Australia and Japan are set to demonstrate that the grouping is a 'force for global good' and has a unifying commitment to a rules-based international order amid China's increasingly intimidatory behaviour.
'If Washington has to balance Chinese power, she will have to turn to the third biggest power in the world which is India.' 'The United States and India will have to work together in order to keep Chinese ambitions in check.'
Biden met with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan on Monday to advance cooperation on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues.
Biden and Modi committed that the US and India will work closely together to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, renew their partnership on climate change, rebuild the global economy in a way that benefits the people of both countries, and stand together against the scourge of global terrorism, the White House said in a readout of the call.
Prime Minister Modi on Saturday left for Egypt after concluding his state visit during which he held wide-ranging talks with President Joe Biden and addressed the joint session of the US Congress.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his maiden trip to India next week would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to discuss wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues, his spokesperson said on Friday.
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications (NSCCSC) John Kirby on Tuesday told a press conference in Washington, DC: "India will be a critical strategic partner for the United States in the coming decades."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has concluded his visit to France, which included co-chairing an AI summit and bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron. He is now headed to the US for a bilateral meeting with President Trump. Modi's visit to France included discussions on trade, defense, energy, and cultural linkages. He also inaugurated India's new consulate in Marseille. During his visit to the US, Modi will also interact with business leaders and members of the Indian community.
The American platforms at the exercise 'Cope India' that started off Kalaikunda will also include a fleet of F-15 E fighter jets, C-130 and C-17 transport aircraft.
The Budget has given signals that India is sensitive to the US needs and willing to walk the extra mile, but if need be, we should respond in equal measure as a sovereign nation, notes Ajay Srivastava.
'Trump has no more elections to fight and his soaring ambition, which is no secret, will be to carve out a presidential legacy that outshines by far all his mediocre predecessors.' 'Trump's turnaround on the H-1B visa debate shows that he can take tough decisions and there are no holy cows in his domain,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday offered a floral tribute to former Japanese premier Shinzo Abe at his state funeral in Tokyo.
Modi assured Trump that India will try to 'live up to the expectations' of the US and the world and also thanked the US President for speaking 'highly' about India during his trips.
The Squad seeks to counter China's power assertions in the South China Sea region.
In his first meeting with Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged concerns over the attacks on minorities, including Hindus and conveyed that any rhetoric that vitiated the environment was best avoided.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Joe Biden at the White House on Friday in his first bilateral meeting with the US president during which the two leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of priority issues, including combating Covid-19, climate change, economic cooperation as well as Afghanistan.
'Granting the country's highest civilian honour to Prime Minister Modi was surprising as it indicated the government was going out of its way to have India as a close partner.'
President Trump made these remarks on Monday while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back to Joint Base Andrews from Florida.
Ever since the Quad started taking shape in 2007, China has been saying that the four-member grouping will be bound to fail. But much to the chagrin of Beijing, it picked up pace in the recent years emerging as a premier strategic group especially challenging China's assertiveness in the disputed South China Sea.
According to the Pentagon report, the PLA is creating options for dissuading, deterring, and defeating external intervention in the Indo-Pacific region.
It would be the prime minister's first bilateral visit to the US after Trump became president for a second term.