- Friday, February 28, 2025
Modi also thanked the US first couple for welcoming him to the White House and said it was an honour for 1.4 billion people back home and also the Indian Americans.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE ties between India and the US are based on democratic values and the constitutions of both nations begin with the words ‘We the people’, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said after he received a warm official welcome at the White House in Washington DC where he reached on Thursday (22) for a state visit.
The Indian leader, who was received by US president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden and welcomed by top officials of the administration, including vice president Kamala Harris, said, “Both nations feel pride in our diversity… In the post-Covid era, the world order is taking a new shape. For global good, world peace and stability, we are committed to working together.”
Modi also thanked the US first couple for welcoming him to the White House and said it was an honour for 1.4 billion people back home and also the Indian Americans who turned out in big numbers to witness the occasion.
Appreciating the Indian diaspora in the US, Modi said people of the Indian community are enhancing India’s glory in the US through hard work and dedication. “You are the real strength of our relationship,” he said.
He said he was looking forward to having bilateral talks with Biden. Modi was also set to address a joint session of the US Congress during the day, something he will be doing for the second time after 2016. Not many leaders in the world have achieved such a feat and Modi is the only Indian leader to get the honour.
Modi also said that he has visited the White House many times after becoming the prime minister but it was the first time that its gates were opened for the Indian-American community to be present in large numbers. He also recounted the days when he had seen the White House from outside.
Expressing gratitude for Biden, Modi thanked the latter for his friendship and said, “Jai Hind, God Bless America!”
Biden, who said he was honoured to be the first US president to invite Modi on a state visit, added, “India-US are in the process to eradicate poverty, addressing climate change, extending healthcare and ensuring food security… All this matters for America, for India and for the world. So much is changing technologically, socially, and politically. The decision we make today are going to impact the future.”
He thanked India saying with its cooperation, the US has strengthened the Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) for a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. According to Biden, decades from now, people would look back and say the Quad bent the arc of history for global good.
Describing the relationship between the US and India as one of most defining relationships in the 21st century, Biden also acknowledged the significance of religious freedom as a core principle for both countries.
“Equity under the law, freedom of expression, religious pluralism and diversity of our people — these core principles have endured and evolve, even as they have faced challenges throughout each of our nations’ histories,” he said during the ceremonial welcome of the Indian PM.
Biden has been under pressure from his Democratic colleagues to raise the issue of India’s human rights record under the Modi government. A few of his party’s lawmakers decided to boycott Modi’s address to the Congress as a protest over his government’s treatment of the minorities.
