Biden Rolls Out the Red Carpet for Modi for a Visit Fraught with Trade-Offs

Welcoming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House this week for a state visit – the most elevated form of American diplomacy – will require US President Joe Biden to make certain trade-offs.

Modi, massively popular in India, has demonstrated a drift toward authoritarianism that has worried the West. He’s cracked down on dissent, targeted journalists and introduced policies that human rights groups say discriminate against Muslims.

Yet Modi and India, the world’s largest democracy, also represent a lynchpin in Biden’s strategy in Asia. The country recently surpassed China to become the most populous country on Earth. No major global challenge, from climate change to advances in technology, can be addressed without India’s buy-in, in Biden’s view. And in an era of growing tensions between the US and China, there are few partners that Biden is more eager to cultivate.

That, according to officials, was the rationale behind inviting Modi for a state visit, only the third of Biden’s presidency so far.

And so, on Thursday the prime minister will be welcomed to the White House with the highest trappings of American friendship: Marching troops on the South Lawn, extensive Oval Office talks and a state dinner in the evening, complete with a chef who specializes in plant-based cuisine to accommodate Modi’s vegetarian diet.

The two leaders will hold a joint news conference – something virtually every state visit over the past two decades has featured – but that was only agreed upon after lengthy, delicate negotiations between the two sides. Indian officials initially balked at the White House’s insistence, two US officials familiar with the matter said. The ask was unwelcome territory for Modi, who does not hold news conferences in India, where press freedom groups say he’s overseen a crackdown on reporting.

Indian officials had instead pushed for joint statements after which the two leaders would take no questions. It was only on the eve of Modi’s visit that Indian officials agreed to a compromise: the leaders would hold a “one-and-one,” calling on one reporter from each side rather than the traditional “two-and-two,” during which each leader would call on two reporters from their press corps.

“We’re just grateful that Prime Minister Modi is going to be participating in a press event at the end of the visit. We think that’s important and we’re glad that he thinks that’s important too,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday when asked about the negotiations.

The Indian Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Thursday’s state visit is aimed at strengthening what national security adviser Jake Sullivan has billed as “one of the defining relationships of the 21st century.” The meetings are expected to produce agreements on technology and defense cooperation and highlight Biden’s efforts to shore up relationships in a region grappling with an increasingly aggressive Beijing.

Also up for discussion is likely to be Russia’s continuing war in Ukraine, a conflict on which India has not taken a definitive side. New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil has helped prop up Moscow amid withering global sanctions.

“Fundamentally, we believe that the long-term trajectory of the US-India relationship is built on the notion that two democracies with shared value systems ought to be able to work together,” Sullivan told a group of reporters ahead of the visit.

“That’s a long view. That’s a view rooted in our bet on the relationship between the people of the United States of America and the people of India,” Sullivan continued. “Part of what will be lifted up and celebrated in this visit will be those deep people and people ties.”_CNN