President Joe Biden on Monday spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the leaders of the two largest democracies in the world who agreed to strengthen their countries’ partnership at a time when both countries have strained relations with China.
India is in the midst of a 9-month military stance with China along its disputed border in eastern Ladakh. Tens of thousands of soldiers stare at each other at friction points in the region at temperatures below zero. At the same time, Biden is determined to deviate from former President Donald Trump’s hot-and-cold relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump has alternately condemned and condemned Beijing by insisting on a major trade deal while downplaying China’s efforts to oust pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. Trump also initially assured Americans that China has the coronavirus “very well under control.” before blaming the Chinese government – which often uses xenophobic language – for the worst public health crisis in the US in more than a century.
The White House said in a statement that Biden and Modi “agreed to work closely with each other to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific” and added that the leaders’ decision to uphold the rule of law and to maintain the democratic process’ in Myanmar, days after a military coup in Southeast Asia.
Biden and Modi are no strangers. As a senator, Biden was a key supporter of the 2008 civilian nuclear deal between the two countries.
The 2008 nuclear deal paved the way for the provision of American high-tech equipment that India wanted along with the technology. The agreement ended the isolation of India after conducting nuclear tests in 1998 and refusing to divulge the nuclear treaty. The United States also supports India’s accession to the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a move that has been blocked by China.
Modi wrote on Twitter that he wished Biden success when he started his administration.
“President @JoeBiden and I are committed to a rule-based international order. We look forward to consolidating our strategic partnership for further peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, ”Modi tweeted.
Modi also had a warm relationship with Trump.
Last year, a few weeks before the pandemic ended a large part of the world, Trump paid a two-day visit to India, which included a huge rally in a 110,000-seat cricket stadium. The Republican president hosted Modi in the U.S. in 2019, a visit that includes a side trip to Houston it drew about 50,000 people, many from the great Indian diaspora in the USA
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Associated Press author Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this report.