Rio de Janeiro: Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a farewell meeting with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. Biden’s term will end in January, capping four years of cooperation.

PM Modi posted on X, “Always a delight to meet him,” with a picture of them together.

At the G20 conference table, PM Modi was flanked by Biden and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

PM Modi developed a rapport with Biden, and relations between the two democracies grew during his four years in office, during which they met personally several times.

In September, PM Modi met Biden at his weekend home in Delaware, where they also held a summit of the Quad with the prime ministers of Australia and Japan.

Biden visited India last year for the G20 summit hosted by PM Modi, during which they also held bilateral meetings.

Biden hosted PM Modi on a state visit to Washington last year showcasing pageantry, and said of PM Modi, “Each time, I was struck by our ability to find new areas of cooperation. Together, we’re unlocking a shared future of what I believe to be unlimited potential”.

During the visit, the two countries signed agreements for cooperation in defence, climate change, space, and high tech.

Significantly, the US agreed to licence India to manufacture GE F414 engines used in military jets, and the two countries agreed to promote startups in defence industries and cooperate in counterterrorism.

PM Modi and Biden upgraded the Quad, the group for Indo-Pacific cooperation comprising also Japan and Australia, to the summit level.

They also set up the I2U2 group of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States to mirror the Quad on the western side of India.

PM Modi visited Washington in 2021, had other meetings with Biden in multinational forums, and held several phone conversations.

While differences between the two countries manifested mainly in Ukraine that did not hinder the Biden administration’s ties with New Delhi.

The spectre of China’s differences between the two countries manifested mainly in Ukraine, which, to the world order and to the Indo-Pacific, has been one of the drivers of closer ties between India and the US. These ties have grown organically through successive US administrations with bipartisan support in both countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

–IANS