Modi-Biden bilateral on Sept 24 to focus on Afghan crisis, terror, trade

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 21

Developments in Afghanistan, ways to stem radicalism, extremism and cross-border terrorism and further expansion of India-US global partnership will figure prominently in the bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Washington on September 24, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Tuesday.

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“PM Modi and President Biden really want to talk about the ways of pulling our countries even closer together at basically every level of interaction between our societies,” said a senior US official at a briefing in Washington.

Opinions page: Anxious over AUKUS: Alliance raises risk level for China but may precipitate Chinese moves against Taiwan

PM Modi will leave for the US on Wednesday with a full plate of engagements, besides his bilateral with Biden. The PM will also meet US Vice-President Kamala Harris, besides possible bilaterals with other world leaders.

Biden and Modi are also expected to discuss ways to boost trade and investment ties, strengthening defence and security collaborations and clean energy partnership, Shringla said. A day after meeting Biden and attending the Quad Summit at the White House, PM Modi will address the UN General Assembly on September 25, besides attending various events hosted on its sidelines. These will include an event on Covid hosted by Biden where Modi is expected to announce the resumption of Vaccine Maitri.

NSA Ajit Doval and the Foreign Secretary will accompany PM Modi on his US visit, while Jaishankar is already in the US. Shringla dismissed concerns that Quad could take a backseat with the emergence of AUKUS (Australia-UK-US) military pact aimed at containing China in the South and East China Sea as well as in Taiwan Strait. “Quad and AUKUS are not groupings of the same nature. Quad is plurilateral with a shared vision for the Indo-Pacific. AUKUS is not relevant to Quad, nor will it have an impact on it,” he said.