President Joe Biden spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, with the leaders of the world’s two largest democracies agreeing to strengthen their nations’ partnership at a time when both countries are facing strained relations with China.
India is in the middle of a 9-month military stalemate with China along its disputed border in eastern Ladakh. Tens of thousands of soldiers face each other at friction points in the region at sub-zero temperatures. At the same time, Biden is determined to move away from former President Donald Trump’s hot and cold relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump alternately courted and persuaded Beijing, pushing for a major trade deal while minimizing China’s efforts to crack down on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. Trump also initially assured Americans that China had the coronavirus “very well under control” before later blaming the Chinese government – often using xenophobic language – for being responsible for the worst public health crisis in the United States in more than a century.
The White House said in a statement that Biden and Modi “agreed to continue close cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific” and added that leaders “resolved that the rule of law and the democratic process must be maintained” in Myanmar , days after a military coup in the Southeast Asian country.
Biden and Modi are no strangers. As a senator, Biden was an important supporter of the 2008 nuclear civil agreement between countries.
The 2008 nuclear deal paved the way for the supply of high-tech US equipment that India wanted along with the technology. The deal ended India’s isolation after it conducted nuclear tests in 1998 and refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The United States also supports India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a move that has been blocked by China.
Modi wrote on Twitter that he wished Biden success in starting his administration.
“President @JoeBiden and I are committed to an international rule-based order. We hope to consolidate our strategic partnership to promote peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, ”tweeted Modi.
Modi also had a warm relationship with Trump.
Trump last year, weeks before the pandemic ended much of the globe, paid a two-day visit to India, which included a loud rally at a 110,000-seat cricket stadium. The Republican President received Modi in 2019 in the United States, a visit that included a trip to Houston which attracted some 50,000 people, many from the great Indian diaspora in the U.S.
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Associated Press editor Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this report.