In Oval, Biden, Modi spent plurality of their time on China: Official

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden during their meeting at the Oval Office last month spent “plurality” of their time having discussions on China and its leader Xi Jinping, according to a senior administration official familiar with the discussion.

“In the Oval Office meeting between Modi and Biden, a plurality of that time was just spent talking about China... and the experiences they've had with Xi, both knowing him for a long time trying really hard to have a relationship with him, and just both essentially giving up on,” said the senior administration official who spoke on conditions of anonymity.

The official said China was a major issue of discussion.

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“In reality… it (China) is not the glue of our relationship at all, but it's one of the factors and I think we're gonna have that glue for a long time to come,” said the official familiar with the discussions between the two leaders last month.

Modi met Biden for all three days between June 21 and June 23 during the Indian prime minister's state visit to the US.

On June 22, wherein the US president welcomed the prime minister at the White House in the morning and the State Dinner later in the evening, Biden and Modi spent time together for more than eight hours.

Both India and the United States believe that China poses a major national security threat to them, the official said, noting that the Biden administration thinks New Delhi has been ahead of Washington in terms of handling Beijing.

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The Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya had a meeting with the Dalai Lama a couple of weeks ago in New Delhi and “the Chinese kind of went nuts about that”, the official noted.

“They (Indians are) in some ways were ahead of us. It is much more existential for them in terms of countering the China threat. Whether it's banning TikTok, whether it was building up mobile networks with no Chinese equipment, they've actually shown a way forward of what de-risking looks like. And that's why I think they're so critical,” said the official.

“At the same time, they still depend on a lot of Chinese things, just like we do. China has been a real irritant in G-20 for them. Russia too…,” the official noted, giving an insight into the G-20 discussions and the balancing act that India is doing to bring all stakeholders together.

Observing that India and the United States have never had a stronger relationship than now, the official said that post the visit of Modi, it has never been deeper in the memory of the president.

In India, “Modi's popularity is about 80 per cent in some polls, so is America's.”

America is as popular as Modi is in India. It's a place where there's an immense reservoir of goodwill towards Americans, towards America and a desire to get even closer, the official said.

“That's not just reflected at the very top which is where we usually write about or hear about. It's, I think, underneath that at the government-to-government level business-to-business level. And then people to people,” the official said.

“Vice Versa, if the bridge from India to America is a steel reinforced four-lane highway, a strong, stable bridge; I would describe in years past the bridge from America to India has been like a rope bridge with every other plank missing. Like we don't know India and Indians anywhere near the level that India and Indians know America and Americans. I think that's beginning to change,” said the official referring to a large number of high-level visits to India.

There's hardly a week or two that goes by without a major US government representative being in the country. And then on the business side, it’s like a steady stream of CEOs. “Some have better strategies than others, but everybody's like rushing India,” said the official.

“It’s one of those moments where, if you rewind the clock, China 15 years ago was raising people at this pace out of poverty into the middle class. India is actually doing it a little faster than China was 15 or 20 years ago. You just look at the metrics, whether it's the number one source of student visas now, India surpassed China last year, whether it's the investment, which is a record level, and we’re the number one trading partner for India for the first time. And another number of other metrics,” the official said.

“This is the most significant country in many ways for them and becoming one of the most. The president said one of the most consequential relationships we have. Privately he's expressed … that this is the most important relationship that we have, at least in terms of growth and, and the future,” said the official.