President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are devoting the Indian leader’s state visit Thursday to launching new partnerships in defense, semiconductor manufacturing and more sectors as they look to strengthen their countries’ crucial — albeit complicated — relationship.
Thousands gathered on the White House South Lawn for the welcoming ceremony, listening to performances by violinist Vibha Janakiraman and the a cappella group Penn Masala. As Modi arrived, the crowd — including many sari and shalwar kameez-clad members of the Indian diaspora — broke out in a chant of “Modi, Modi, Modi.”
“All eyes are on the two largest democracies in the world, India and America,” Modi said as the leaders met in the Oval Office. “I believe that our strategic partnership is important. I’m confident that working together will be successful.”
With Modi by his side at the earlier welcoming ceremony, Biden said he believes the U.S.-India relationship “will be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century. Since I’ve become president, we’ve continued to build a relationship built on mutual trust, candor and respect.”
But as Biden fetes Modi, human rights advocates and some U.S. lawmakers are questioning the Democratic president’s decision to offer the high honor to a leader whose nine-year tenure over the world’s biggest democracy has seen a backslide in political, religious and press freedoms.
Biden administration officials say honoring Modi, the leader of the conservative Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, is Diplomacy 101. The U.S.-India relationship will be vital in coming decades as both sides navigate an ascendant China and the enormity of climate change, artificial intelligence, supply chain resilience and other issues.
Still, Biden subtly reflected on human rights in India at the start of an Oval Office meeting with Modi that kicked off formal talks. The president said he wanted the partnership to be “grounded on democracy, human rights, freedom and the rule of law.”
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden will raise his concerns but avoid lecturing the prime minister.
“The question of where politics and the question of democratic institutions go in India is going to be determined within India by Indians,” Sullivan said. “It’s not going to be determined by the United States.” He said “our part is to speak out on behalf of universal values.”
Among the announcements to be made Thursday is an agreement that will allow U.S.-based General Electric to partner with India-based Hindustan Aeronautics to produce jet engines for Indian aircraft in India and the sale of U.S.-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, according to senior Biden administration officials. The officials briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to preview agreements before they are announced.
The Biden administration also is coming out with plans to bolster India’s semiconductor industry. U.S.-based Micron Technology has agreed to build a $2.75 billion semiconductor assembly and test facility in India, with Micron spending $800 million and India financing the rest. U.S.-based Applied Materials is announcing it will launch a new semiconductor center for commercialization and innovation in India, and Lam Research, another semiconductor manufacturing equipment company, will start a training program for 60,000 Indian engineers.
On the space front, India will sign on to the the Artemis Accords, a blueprint for space exploration cooperation among nations participating in NASA’s lunar exploration plans. NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization also agreed to make a joint mission to the International Space Station next year.
"We made critical and emerging technologies the pillar of our next generation partnership to ensure these technologies promote and protect our values, remain open, accessible, trusted and secure,” Biden added. “All this matters for America, for India and for the world.”
The State Department will also announce plans to open consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, while India will reopen its consulate in Seattle.
At the welcoming ceremony, Modi called the Indian diaspora in America — the millions of immigrants and their children from the subcontinent living in the U.S. — “the real strength” of the U.S.-India relationship. He said the honor of a formal state visit — the first in the U.S. for India since Barack Obama honored Modi’s predecessor, Manmohan Singh, in 2009 — reflected the positive impact Indians are having worldwide.
Modi, the son a tea seller who rose to be India’s premier, also recalled that the first time he visited the White House was three decades ago as a “common man.”
“I have come here many times but today for the first time, the doors of the White House have been opened for the Indian American community in such large numbers,” Modi said to an estimated crowd of 7,000.
Despite the major deals, the visit will be shadowed by concerns laid out by rights activists and lawmakers who question Modi’s commitment to democratic principles.
Modi has faced criticism over legislation amending the country’s citizenship law that fast-tracks naturalization for some migrants but excludes Muslims, a rise in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindu nationalists, and the recent conviction of India’s top opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, for mocking Modi’s surname.
In 2005, the U.S. revoked Modi’s visa to the U.S., citing concerns that, as chief minister of Gujarat, he did not act to stop communal violence during 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 people dead. An investigation approved by the Indian Supreme Court later absolved Modi, but the stain of the dark moment has lingered.
A group of more than 70 lawmakers wrote to Biden this week urging him to raise concerns about the erosion of religious, press and political freedoms during the visit.
“It is an important country to me, and we must call out some of the real issues that are threatening the viability of democracy in all of our countries,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who was born in India and helped organize the lawmakers’ letter. “If India continues to backslide, I think it will affect our ability to have a really strong relationship with the country.”
Biden and Modi have also had differences over Russia’s war in Ukraine. India abstained from voting on U.N. resolutions condemning Russia and refused to join the global coalition against Russia. Since the start of the war, the Modi government has also dramatically increased its purchase of Russian oil.
White House officials note that there are signs of change in India’s relationship with Russia, which has long been New Delhi’s biggest defense supplier.
India is moving away from Russian military equipment, looking more to the U.S., Israel, Britain and other nations. Modi recently met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and has spoken out about his worries about the potential use of nuclear weapons by Russia.
State visits typically are reserved for America’s closest allies, but they also have been used in the past as a carrot to try to strengthen relationships with countries with which the United States has had complicated relationships.
Modi’s busy itinerary on Thursday also includes an address to Congress and a lavish White House state dinner.
Modi, who hasn’t taken part in a formal press conference in years, has agreed to participate in one with Biden, according to the White House. Typically, state visits include a news conference in which the leaders take questions from two members of the U.S. press and two from the visiting press corps.
Modi is to be honored at a State Department luncheon on Friday hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He also is scheduled to address members of the Indian diaspora before departing Washington, AP reports.
