 "Modi-Biden bilateral meet: 'Our friendship to play big role in global good'")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Joe Biden on Friday expressed confidence that the G20 Leaders’ Summit will advance the shared goals of building global consensus around fundamentally reshaping and scaling up multilateral development banks.
A joint statement, released after both leaders held a bilateral meeting late on Friday at the PM’s official residence, said the G20 Summit would help accelerate sustainable development and bolster multilateral cooperation.
The statement further said PM Modi looks forward to welcoming Biden to the next Quad leaders’ summit in India next year. Both sides also announced the settlement of the seventh and last outstanding dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO), over poultry imports from the US. This comes after Modi’s visit to the US in June, when both countries decided to close six of the seven outstanding disputes at the WTO.
“The bilateral meeting was ‘very productive’. Friendship between India and the US will continue to play a great role in furthering global good,” Modi told PTI after the meeting.
The discussions straddled a wide range of issues and will further deepen the bond between both nations, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said on Twitter.
The nearly hour-long meeting was held at the Prime Minister's residence at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg here. While this is Biden's first visit to India as US President, both leaders have had more than 10 in-person and online meetings since 2021.
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Isro & Nasa have commenced discussions on modalities, capacity building, and training for mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024, and are continuing efforts to finalise a strategic framework for human space flight cooperation by the end of 2023, the statement said.
The statement also noted the commencement of negotiations for a commercial agreement between GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) to manufacture GE F-414 jet engines in India and pointed out the US Congressional Notification process has ended for it.
On the technology front, both sides have committed to undertake a "midterm review" of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) in September 2023. The next annual iCET review will be co-led by the national security advisors of both countries in early 2024. The nations also welcomed "intensified consultations" to expand opportunities for facilitating the India-US collaboration in nuclear energy, including in the development of next-generation small modular reactor technologies in a collaborative mode.
Bilaterals with Bangladesh, Mauritius
Modi also had bilateral meetings with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth (left)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (left) during a bilateral meeting
"The progress in India-Bangladesh relations in the last nine years has been very gladdening. Our talks covered areas like connectivity, commercial linkage and more," the PMO tweeted. Discussions focused on diversifying bilateral relations. Both sides also agreed to strengthen ties in a host of sectors, including connectivity, and culture, as well as people-to-people ties.
Bangladeshi officials said Hasina raised the Teesta water-sharing issue. Issues related to connectivity, energy security, and food security are also likely to figure on the agenda. During Hasina's state visit to India in September last year, both leaders directed the officials to work together to address issues such as pollution in rivers and to improve the riverine environment and river navigability with respect to common rivers.
With Mauritius, talks focused on cooperation in a range of sectors spanning infrastructure, fintech and culture. “Also reiterated India's commitment to furthering the voice of the Global South," Modi said on Twitter.
The country is a key partner integral to India’s vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR), the geopolitical framework of maritime cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. Both leaders also acknowledged the significant enhancement of the India-Mauritius bilateral relationship, commemorating its 75th anniversary this year.
Mauritius is the third largest source of foreign direct investment for India, accounting for 26 per cent of all inbound FDI since 2000.