PM Modi's US visit to strengthen strategic partnership
New Delhi [India], September 24 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi's three-day visit to the US is critical to strengthening bilateral relations between the two largest democracies of the world.
PM Modi will hold a meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday. This will be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders after Biden took over as the US President on January 20.
He will also join President Biden at the Quad Leaders' Summit today. The meeting comes amid the turmoil in Afghanistan after the takeover of the war-torn country by the Taliban last month.
Regular exchange of high-level political visits has provided sustained momentum to bilateral cooperation, while the wide-ranging and ever-expanding dialogue architecture has established a long-term framework for India-US engagement.
The frequency of high-level visits and exchanges between India and the US has gone up significantly of late. These include the earlier 2019 visit of PM Modi to the US and former US President Donald Trump's visit to India in 2020.
The outcomes generated by these visits have been instrumental in further strengthening and developing the multifaceted ties between the two countries.
These have been strengthened by the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, which is led by the heads of foreign and defence ministries of India and the US.
Moreover, after the formation of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), the two vibrant democracies have become partners in the Indo-Pacific amid Chinese assertiveness in the region.
The Quad is an inter-governmental security forum comprising India, Japan, Australia, and the US with a shared objective to support a "free, open and prosperous" Indo-Pacific region, that China seeks to threaten.
Also, the Quad vaccine initiative in the field of healthcare amid the COVID-19 pandemic is a glowing example of the strategic partnership.
Earlier in April this year, President Biden spoke with PM Modi on a phone call, committing that the United States and India will work closely together in the fight against COVID-19.
Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla had earlier informed that PM Modi and Biden will review "robust and multifaceted" India-US bilateral ties and will hold a discussion to bolster bilateral trade and investment ties.
Pointing out similar values and geopolitical interests, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India and the US are "natural partners" and asserted that coordination and cooperation between both countries were also increasing.
PM Modi's remarks came in a joint press conference with US Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the delegation-level talks.
"India and America being the largest and oldest democracy are natural partners. We have similar values, geopolitical interests, and our coordination and cooperation is also increasing. Strengthening supply chain, new emerging technologies, and space, are areas of special interest to you. For me, these areas are of priority. In these areas, our cooperation is important," he said.
PM Modi's visit to the US is an opportunity for the two countries to develop the strategic partnership based on shared democratic values and increasing convergence of interests on bilateral, regional and global issues. (ANI)
