US President Joe Biden reached New Delhi on Friday, and held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence, marking his first visit to India as the US President. PM Modi and Biden vowed to take forward their partnership across various domains including space collaboration, technology advancements, and extended cooperation in new areas such as Artificial Intelligence, and nuclear energy among others, ahead of the G20 summit that is set to begin today in New Delhi.

In their over 50-minute talks on Friday, the two leaders deliberated upon India's G20 presidency, cooperation in nuclear energy, critical and emerging technologies such as 6G and artificial intelligence, and ways to fundamentally reshape multilateral development banks.

A joint statement issued at the end of the talks said President Biden lauded India's G20 Presidency for further "demonstrating" how the G20 as a forum is delivering important outcomes.

“The leaders called on their governments to continue the work of transforming the India-U.S. Strategic Partnership across all dimensions of our multifaceted global agenda, based on trust and mutual understanding," read the joint statement released by the White House after their meeting.

The joint statement said the "leaders re-emphasized that the shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights, inclusion, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all citizens are critical to the success our countries enjoy and that these values strengthen our relationship."

President Biden reaffirmed the US's long-standing commitment to support India’s candidature for the UNSC non-permanent seat in 2028-29. "The leaders once again underscored the need to strengthen and reform the multilateral system so it may better reflect contemporary realities and remain committed to a comprehensive UN reform agenda, including through expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the UN Security Council," the joint statement said.

Taking forward the deliberations on the procurement of American-made fighter jets, the two leaders welcomed the completion of the notification process regarding negotiations for a commercial agreement between GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautical Limited.

According to the joint statement, the US president commended the Indian defense ministry's decision to issue a Letter of Request to American defense company General Atomics for the purchase of 31 MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft.

With the resolution of the most recent trade dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) involving poultry products, both nations have now successfully addressed all seven outstanding trade disputes at the WTO. "The leaders lauded the settlement of the seventh and last outstanding WTO dispute between India and the United States. This follows the unprecedented settlement of six outstanding bilateral trade disputes in the WTO in June 2023,” the joint statement said. The poultry case was filed by the US against India in the WTO in 2012.

They "recommitted" to work collaboratively and expeditiously to support the advancement of this unprecedented co-production and technology transfer proposal, the joint statement said.

Modi and Biden also reaffirmed technology's defining role in deepening the India-US strategic partnership and lauded ongoing efforts through the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) to build open, accessible, secure, and resilient technology ecosystems and value chains, based on mutual confidence and trust.

"The United States and India intend to undertake a midterm review of iCET in September 2023 to continue to drive momentum toward the next annual iCET review, co-led by the National Security Advisors of both countries, in early 2024," the statement said.

Biden congratulated Modi, the scientists and engineers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Chandrayaan-3’s historic landing at the south pole of the Moon along with the successful launch of India's first solar mission.

Reiterating their combined efforts towards space exploration, ISRO and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have also commenced discussions on modalities, capacity building, and training for mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024, the joint statement said. The countries are also "continuing efforts to finalize a strategic framework for human space flight cooperation by the end of 2023."

In their previous summit, the leaders had committed to holding an India-US Cancer Dialogue. The US-India health discussion will take place in Washington, DC, in October 2023, and it will be launched in November 2023, according to their joint statement.

Reiterating the importance of decarbonizing the transport sector, the leaders welcomed progress to expand electric mobility in India, including joint support for a payment security mechanism financed through both public and private funds. This will accelerate the procurement of 10,000 made-in-India electric buses including those for the Indian PM e-Bus Sewa program that will include the associated charging infrastructure. The two countries are committed to working together to help diversify the global supply chain for e-mobility.

Semiconductors, which have been a key strategic focus for both countries, also featured in the talks. “The leaders reiterated their support for building resilient global semiconductor supply chains, noting in this respect a multi-year initiative of Microchip Technology, Inc., to invest approximately US$300 million in expanding its research and development presence in India and Advanced Micro Device’s announcement to invest US$400 million in India over the next five years to expand research, development, and engineering operations in India," reads the US-India joint statement.

The prime ministers of Bangladesh's Sheikh Hasina and Mauritius' Pravind Jugnauth also met with Prime Minister Modi on Friday. Modi is scheduled to meet separately with the leaders of the UK, Japan, Germany, and Italy on Saturday. He and French President Emmanuel Macron will have lunch together on Sunday. In addition, meetings with Canada, the UAE, South Korea, Brazil, Nigeria, Comoros, and Turkey are scheduled.

Image source: ANI