President Joe Biden spoke on Monday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the leaders of the world’s two major democracies agreeing to strengthen their nations’ partnership at a time when both countries are facing strained relations with China.
India is in the midst of a 9-month military confrontation with China along the disputed border in eastern Ladakh. Tens of thousands of soldiers face each other at friction points in the region at temperatures below zero degrees. 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 has alternately courted Beijing, pushing for a major trade deal, while minimizing China’s efforts to stifle pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. Trump 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 the leaders “decided that the rule of law and the democratic process must be maintained ”in Myanmar, days after a military coup in the nation of Southeast Asia.
Biden and Modi are no strangers. As a senator, Biden has been an important advocate for the 2008 nuclear deal 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 agreement ended India’s isolation after conducting 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 wants Biden to succeed while launching his administration.
“President @ JoeBiden and I are dedicated to a rules-based international order. We look forward to strengthening our strategic partnership to continue peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, ”Modi wrote on Twitter.
Modi also had a warm relationship with Trump.
Trump last year, a few weeks before the pandemic hit much of the globe, paid a two-day visit to India, which included a rally at a 110,000-seat cricket stadium. Republican President hosted Modi in 2019 in the US, a visit that included a side trip to Houston which attracted about 50,000 people, many from the vast Indian Indian diaspora
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Associated Press writer Ashok Sharma of New Delhi contributed to this report.