Washington announced on Friday September 8 that it had reached an agreement with New Delhi to resolve the latest trade conflict between the two countries, at the time when Joe Biden, in India for the G20, met the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
This agreement, concerning the importation into India of agricultural products from the United States, “represents an important milestone in the commercial relationship between the United States and India”said the representative of the White House in charge of trade, Katherine Tai, quoted in the communicated. In particular, India agreed to reduce customs duties on frozen American turkeys and ducks, as well as blueberries and cranberries.
These announcements, “underline the strength of our bilateral partnership”, added M.me Tai while Washington and New Delhi had already put an end to several commercial disputes in June, on the occasion of Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington.
Meeting between Modi and Biden at the G20
After a new meeting closed to the press, on the eve of the G20 summit in New Delhi, Narendra Modi and Joe Biden praised the “strong and lasting partnership” between their two countries. The Indian Prime Minister said in the joint statement, ” impatient “ to receive the American President again next year for a meeting of the Quad.
This diplomatic format dear to the White House, in full offensive in Asia to stand up to China, brings together India, the United States, Australia and Japan around security issues.
During the meeting, the two leaders estimated, according to their press release, that the G20 summit would “Advancing Common Goals” economically, especially in “deeply reforming and strengthening the multilateral development banks”, which is Joe Biden’s big goal in New Delhi. They also said their support for an Indo-Pacific region “free” And ” opened “which is the cautious formulation that the Biden administration always uses to denounce Chinese ambitions in the region.
Support for India for a permanent seat at the UN
The two men also promised to continue the projects launched during Narendra Modi’s state visit in terms of technology, industry and defense. Joe Biden also reiterated that he supported giving India a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. “India remains a country under construction” in terms of democracy and human rights, said a White House advisor, Kurt Campbell, during a press briefing held following the meeting.
“The key here is to maintain a respectful dialogue and confront certain challenges with a certain humility, given the problems we have experienced in our own country”, did he declare. In their press release, Joe Biden and Narendra Modi expressed their support for “common values of freedom, democracy, human rights, inclusion, pluralism”.
The Indian government broadcast images, polished, in slow motion and without sound, of Joe Biden and Narendra Modi in deep conversation in the residence of the Hindu nationalist head of government.