WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Thursday rolled out the red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with major deals on fighter-jet engines, semiconductors and space, as Washington bets big on New Delhi as a counterweight to China.
The White House said the two leaders will take questions from the press, while stopping short of calling the event a press conference. Modi has nearly always avoided unscripted interactions with reporters during his nine years in office. A US official said India would also buy MQ-9B SeaGuardians, high-precision armed drones. India in 2019 broke precedent with an airstrike in Pakistani territory against an alleged extremist camp.
A US official said the plant would advance a goal of diversifying supply chains of advanced semiconductors, as Biden leads a concerted effort to deny exports of top-end chips to China. As part of the cooperation, India's space program will work with NASA on a joint mission to the International Space Station next year, the White House said.
The State Department in its latest report on religious freedom pointed to attacks by police and vigilantes against minorities and inflammatory statements by members of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.
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