India-US relations a 'partnership of trust': PM Modi in meeting with Biden

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden on Tuesday vowed to work together for a more prosperous, free, and secure world while committing to deepen India-US defense and economic engagements.

In his meeting with Biden on the sidelines of the Quad summit, Modi said the strategic relationship between India and the US is truly a ''partnership of trust'' and the friendship will continue to be a ''force for good'' for global peace and stability.

A White House readout said Biden condemned Russia's ''unjustifiable war'' against Ukraine and that the leaders discussed how to cooperate to manage disruptions caused by the war, especially the rise in energy and food prices to protect their respective citizens and the world.

It said the two leaders committed to deepening the ''major defense partnership'', encouraging economic engagement that benefits both countries, and expanding the partnership on global health, pandemic preparedness, and critical and emerging technologies.

It said they looked forward to enhancing partnership to accelerate India's just energy transition, including through the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership, especially in the areas of renewables deployment, decarbonizing the energy and industrial sectors, zero-emissions vehicles, and mobilizing related investment in India.

''President Biden condemned Russia's unjustifiable war against Ukraine. The leaders committed to continue providing humanitarian assistance, and discussed how to cooperate to manage disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine, in particular the rise in energy and food prices, to protect their respective citizens and the world,'' the White House said.

The two countries are renewing the Indo-US Vaccine Action Program, which since its establishment has yielded several ''success stories'' towards the discovery, development, and manufacture of India's first indigenous and low-cost vaccines to address rotavirus and COVID-19, it said.

The two countries announced India's joining the Combined Military Forces-Bahrain as an associate member. ''The leaders welcomed the launch of a United States–India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (CET), spearheaded by the National Security Councils of the two countries to expand partnership in critical and emerging technologies,'' the US readout said.

It said the US plans to join six of India's Technology Innovation Hubs to support at least 25 joint research projects in 2022 in areas such as artificial intelligence and data science to advance progress in applications such as agriculture, health, and climate.

''Recognising the fundamental role maritime domain awareness plays in preserving economic security and in responding to humanitarian crises, the leaders noted with pleasure the establishment of the Indo-Pacific partnership for maritime domain awareness,'' it said.