On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Biden will hold a virtual meeting ahead of the 2+2 ministerial dialogue on 11th April.
The Pm Modi and President Biden meeting would “allow both sides to continue their regular and high-level engagement aimed at further strengthening the bilateral comprehensive global strategic relationship,” according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Moreover, the Pm Modi and President Biden meeting was announced by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Meanwhile, according to the MEA, the two presidents will discuss continuing bilateral cooperation and exchange perspectives on recent events in South Asia and global issues of mutual interest.
Jen Psaki, Biden’s press secretary, stated in Washington, D.C. that the US President would keep in touch with India’s Prime Minister “on the effects of Russia’s barbaric war against Ukraine and how to mitigate its destabilizing influence on global food supply and commodity markets.”
In addition, MEA stated, “The virtual meeting will enable both sides to continue their regular and high-level engagement aimed at further strengthening the bilateral Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.”
Key topics to be discussed in President Biden and PM Modi’s virtual meeting
According to a press release from the White House, President Biden and Prime Minister Modi will discuss cooperation on a variety of issues, including ending the Covid-19 pandemic, combating the climate crisis, strengthening the global economy, and upholding a free, open, rules-based international order to bolster security and democracy.
The leaders will continue to discuss the creation of an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and the provision of high-quality infrastructure.
President Biden, according to the White House, will bring up the Russia-Ukraine conflict during the meeting. The White House stated, “Consultations on the consequences of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and mitigating its destabilizing impact on global food supply and commodity markets will be discussed.”
The virtual meeting is taking place as Washington expresses concern over India’s stance on the Ukraine conflict and its intention to buy Russian oil at a discount.
Meanwhile, during a visit to New Delhi in March, US Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economics Daleep Singh remarked that the US did not want to see a “rapid” increase in India’s imports of Russian energy and other commodities.
Following the virtual meeting between India and the United States, a 2+2 ministerial dialogue involving Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will take place.
The 2+2 dialogue will aim at bilateral cooperation in a variety of areas and outline a course for the two countries. The topic of Ukraine is also likely to come up during the 2+2 meeting.
Further, the meeting will focus on the strategic partnership between the United States and India.
“The 2+2 Ministerial is an important opportunity to advance our shared objectives across the breadth of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership, including enhancing our people-to-people ties and education cooperation, building diverse, resilient supply chains for critical and emerging technology, scaling up our climate action and public health cooperation, and developing a trade and investment partnership to increase prosperity for working families in both countries,” according to the US State Department’s office.
In addition, there is also a chance to highlight the growing Major Defense Partnership between the United States and India, according to the US State Department’s office.
However, Rajnath Singh will meet with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin separately at the Pentagon. The two will talk about defence cooperation, such as defence industrial partnership and capabilities development through military-to-military engagements.
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