Modi-Biden bilateral meet: 9 areas of focus for global good

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Joe Biden have asked the new dispensation which is being headed by the Taliban in Afghanistan to abide by UNSC Resolution 2593 and ensure safe and secure passage to Afghan as well as foreign nationals. 

The meeting between Modi and Biden lasted nearly 90 minutes.

Let us understand what was discussed between the two leaders during their first-ever in-person meeting since Joe Biden became the 46th US President. 

Afghanistan 

During the meeting which was held just hours before the Quad Leaders' Summit, the two leaders discussed the Afghanistan crisis in detail apart from other pressing issues. The UNSC Resolution 2593 was adopted by the United Security Council when India was at the presidency in August. It requires that the Afghan territory must never again be used to target any country, shelter terrorists, and finance terrorist outfits and attacks. It also underscored the primacy of combating terrorism in Afghanistan.  

The India-US joint statement said that the Taliban must respect the human rights of all the people of Afghanistan. Biden and PM Modi called upon the Taliban to allow full, safe, direct and unhindered access for the United Nations, its specialized agencies and implementing partners, and all humanitarian actors engaged in humanitarian relief activity.  

The two leaders said they were determined to continue to closely coordinate and to work jointly with partners towards an inclusive and peaceful future for all Afghans.

UNSC Reforms

Joe Biden lauded India’s strong leadership during its UN Security Council Presidency in August 2021. In this context, President Biden also reiterated US support for India's permanent membership on a reformed UN Security Council.

US President Biden also reaffirmed US support for India’s entry to the Nuclear Suppliers Group. They welcomed the extension of the Statement of Guiding Principles on Triangular Cooperation for Global Development to leverage the combined capacities of both countries to address development challenges across the world, particularly in the Indo-Pacific and Africa. 

Covid-19 

The two leaders expressed deep pride and appreciation about their nations' close cooperation in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic over the past year. Having administered hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine to its citizens, India and the United States reiterated their commitment to lead the global effort to end this pandemic. 

Joe Biden also appreciated New Delhi’s announcement to resumption vaccine exports from October. 

Also Read: 15 key takeaways from Quad Summit at the White House

Climate Change 

Prime Minister Modi welcomed the measures adopted by the new American leadership on climate action, including the return to the Paris Agreement.  

Biden supported Prime Minister Modi's domestic goal of installing 450GW of renewable power by 2030. 

As part of the India-US Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership, the two countries will accelerate clean energy development and deployment of critical technologies to advance a clean energy transition. Prime Minister Modi welcomed the United States decision to join the India-Swedish Leadership Group for Industry Transition, which aims to evolve the ground for industry transition to address the climate crisis.

Defence Cooperation 

Asserting the strength of the defence ties between the two countries, US President Biden reiterated his country's unwavering commitment to New Delhi as a major defence partner.

Biden highlighted the close engagements between the two countries on sharing of logistics, military-to-military interactions and information sharing.

He also spoke of strengthening cooperation in advanced military technologies and expanding engagements in a multilateral framework. In the meeting, the two leaders noted the recent project to co-develop air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles and encouraged more such joint efforts.

Terrorism 

The two sides vowed to jointly combat global terrorism and take concerted action against all terrorist groups, including groups proscribed by the UNSCR 1267 Sanctions Committee.

Condemning cross-border terrorism, President Biden and PM Modi called for perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice. Without naming Pakistan, they strongly disapproved the use of terror proxies and stressed the importance of denying any logistical, financial or military support to terrorist groups which could be used to orchestrate or carry out terror attacks.  

The two countries are also exploring opportunities to develop counter-terror technologies.

Trade

The two countries decided to convene the India-US Trade Policy Forum before the end of 2021, to enhance the bilateral trade relationship by addressing trade concerns, identifying specific areas for increased engagement and evolving a shared vision for the future of the trade relationship.  

Biden and PM Modi said they are also looking forward to leveraging the talents of the private sector and convene the India-US CEO Forum and the Commercial Dialogue in early 2022. 

Emerging technologies 

PM Modi and President Biden agreed to continue and expand their partnership in new domains of critical and emerging technology -- space, cyber, health security, semiconductors, AI, 5G, 6G and future generation telecommunications technology, and Blockchain.

Also Read: 

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2+2 Ministerial Dialogue 

The two leaders resolved to further strengthen their collaboration in the fields of education, science and technology and people-to-people engagement. The two leaders welcomed close consultations through the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue of the foreign and defence ministers to be held later this year.

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