Wilmington/New Delhi, Sep 22 (UNI) US President Joe Biden expressed immense appreciation for India’s leadership on the world stage, and commended PM Modi for his historic visit to Ukraine, and for his message of peace and ongoing humanitarian support for Kyiv, the India-US Joint Fact Sheet said.
Following talks between PM Modi and President Biden, the fact sheet says “President Biden expressed his immense appreciation for India’s leadership on the world stage, particularly Prime Minister Modi’s leadership in the G-20 and in the Global South and his commitment to strengthen the Quad to ensure a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
“India is at the forefront of efforts to seek solutions to the most pressing challenges, from supporting the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic to addressing the devastating consequences of conflicts around the world.
“President Biden commended Prime Minister Modi for his historic visits to Poland and Ukraine, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in decades, and for his message of peace and ongoing humanitarian support for Ukraine, including its energy sector, and on the importance of international law, including the UN charter.
“The Leaders reaffirmed their support for the freedom of navigation and the protection of commerce, including critical maritime routes in the Middle East where India will assume co-lead in 2025 of the Combined Task Force 150 to work with Combined Maritime Forces to secure sea lanes in the Arabian Sea.”
President Biden also conveyed to PM Modi that the United States “supports initiatives to reform global institutions to reflect India’s important voice, including permanent membership for India in a reformed U.N. Security Council”.
“The Leaders voiced their view that a closer U.S.-India partnership is vital to the success of efforts to build a cleaner, inclusive, more secure, and more prosperous future for the planet.”
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, briefing the media later, said as regards a peace proposal related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict: “I want to again underline that we are involved in a set of ongoing conversations with interlocutors on all sides. It is, obviously, people see value in India’s engagement in these conversations and we are able to talk to multiple interlocutors, and this is not something that is going to have an outcome in the present stage because there is still quite a bit of work that remains to be done. … but at the moment, these are very important conversations that are going on with multiple people on all sides of this conflict.”
Asked whether Bangladesh figured in the discussions, the FS said that Bangladesh “also figured in the discussions and there was an exchange of views with regard to the situation there”.
