Joe Biden hails PM Modi's trip to Ukraine; FS Misri says very important conversations under way

Wilmington, US: US President Joe Biden commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic visit to Ukraine last month and his message of peace, as the two leaders held wide-ranging talks that figured pressing global challenges including the situation in the war-ravaged country.

The US President hosted Modi at his personal home in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday afternoon hours after the prime minister arrived in the US on a three-day visit.

At a media briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, while answering a question on defusing the Ukraine crisis, said "very important" conversations are under way with multiple people on all sides of the conflict.

In the talks, Biden conveyed to the Indian prime minister that the US supports initiatives to reform global institutions to reflect India's important voice, including permanent membership for New Delhi in a reformed UN Security Council, according to a joint fact-sheet on the meeting.

Though the Modi-Biden talks primarily focused on bilateral ties, the two leaders also touched upon key global challenges including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the situation in the Indo-Pacific that has witnessed increasing Chinese muscle-flexing.

The fact-sheet said President Biden expressed his "immense appreciation" for India's leading role on the world stage, particularly Modi's leadership in the G-20 and in the Global South and his commitment to strengthen the Quad to ensure a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

It said India is at the forefront of efforts to seek solutions to the most pressing challenges, from supporting the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic to addressing the devastating consequences of conflicts around the world.

"President Biden commended Prime Minister Modi for his historic visits to Poland and Ukraine, the first by an Indian prime minister in decades, and for his message of peace and ongoing humanitarian support for Ukraine, including its energy sector, and on the importance of international law, including the UN charter," it said.

It is understood that Modi briefed Biden on his visits to Moscow in July and to Kyiv last month.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, when asked at a media briefing on the extent of discussion on the Russia-Ukraine conflict between the two leaders and whether the Indian side mentioned any kind of peace proposal, only said New Delhi is involved in a set of negotiations.

"I want to again underline that we are involved in a set of ongoing conversations with interlocutors on all sides," he said.

"It is, obviously, people see value in India's engagement in these conversations and we are able to talk to multiple interlocutors, and this is not something that is going to have an outcome in the present stage because there is still quite a bit of work that remains to be done," he added.

"As and when there is something in the nature of what you have suggested, we will come back to you, but at the moment, these are very important conversations that are going on with multiple people on all sides of this conflict," Misri said.

In his talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on August 23, Modi said both Ukraine and Russia should sit together without wasting time to end the ongoing war and that India was ready to play an "active role" to restore peace in the region.

The prime minister said India was on the side of peace since the beginning of the conflict and he would even like to contribute personally for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

In their meeting, Modi and Biden reaffirmed their support for the freedom of navigation and the protection of commerce, including critical maritime routes in the Middle East where India will assume co-lead in 2025 of the Combined Task Force 150 to work with Combined Maritime Forces to secure sea lanes in the Arabian Sea, the document said.

The leaders voiced their view that a closer US-India partnership is vital to the success of efforts to build a cleaner, inclusive, more secure, and more prosperous future for the planet, it added.

Modi and Biden also deliberated on ways to further bolster India-US cooperation in areas of semiconductors, clean energy and defence.

"President Biden and Prime Minister Modi hailed a watershed arrangement to establish a new semiconductor fabrication plant focused on advanced sensing, communication, and power electronics for national security, next-generation telecommunications, and green energy applications," the fact-sheet said.

"The fab, which will be established with the objective of manufacturing infrared, gallium nitride and silicon carbide semiconductors, will be enabled by support from the India Semiconductor Mission as well as a strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech, and the US Space Force," it said.

It said the leaders praised combined efforts to facilitate resilient, secure, and sustainable semiconductor supply chains including through GlobalFoundries’ (GF) creation of the GF Kolkata Power Center.

They noted GF's plans to explore longer term, cross-border manufacturing and technology partnerships with India which will deliver high-quality jobs in both of our countries, it said.

They also celebrated the new strategic partnership between the U.S. Department of State and the India Semiconductor Mission, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in connection with the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund.

The prime minister and the US president welcomed steps to build safe, secure, and resilient supply chains for the US, Indian, and international automotive markets, including through Ford Motor Company's submission of a Letter of Intent to utilise its Chennai plant to manufacture for export to global markets.