Biden, Modi announce trade, military deals in bid to contain China’s power

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U.S. President Joe Biden rolled out the red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announcing new trade and military deals meant to contain the power of China despite Mr. Modi’s own authoritarian tendencies and India’s role propping up Russia’s economy amid the invasion of Ukraine.

During a state visit by Mr. Modi to Washington Thursday, the U.S. President praised the two countries’ relationship as “more dynamic than at any time in history” and said the pair had a “good discussion about democratic values.”

“There is an overwhelming respect for each other because we’re both democracies, and it’s a common, democratic character of both our countries and our peoples. Our diversity, our culture, our open, tolerant, robust debate,” Mr. Biden told a joint news conference at the White House, saying the “U.S.-China relationship is not in the same space” because Beijing is not democratic.

He touted a long list of new accords with India, which became the world’s most populous country this year, including U.S. companies General Electric and Micron Technology manufacturing military jet engines and semiconductors, respectively, in India, India buying U.S. military drones and both countries agreeing to work together to secure supply chains of critical minerals.

Mr. Modi, meanwhile, smarted when questioned by a reporter about his human-rights record.

“I’m actually really surprised that people say so,” he replied through an interpreter when asked about his government’s discrimination against Muslims and attempts to silence critics. “Democracy is in our DNA, democracy is our spirit, democracy runs in our veins … this is regardless of caste, creed, religion, gender. There is absolutely no space for discrimination.”

On Ukraine, he said little, calling only for “resolution” through “dialogue and diplomacy.”

Brahma Chellaney: The U.S. needs Modi to counter China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific

Over its nine years in office, the Prime Minister’s Hindu nationalist government has disadvantaged Muslims through citizenship laws, curbed press freedoms and disqualified political opponents from running for office. India has also taken advantage of Western sanctions pushing down the price of Russian oil to increase its imports roughly tenfold since the start of the invasion, providing vital funds to Moscow’s flagging economy.

Even the news conference was a rare event for Mr. Modi, who typically eschews unscripted interactions with reporters. It was limited to just two questions – fewer than usually permitted at White House media availabilities – and Mr. Biden had to invite an Indian journalist to ask a question after Mr. Modi refused to.

The Prime Minister later addressed Congress for the second time in seven years, a rare honour for a foreign leader, before sitting down to a state dinner with Mr. Biden.

The warm reception was at odds with Mr. Biden’s repeated efforts to cast himself as a global defender of liberal democracy and human rights and with Congress’s bipartisan majority in favour of funding Ukraine’s war effort.

At the Capitol, House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy greeted Mr. Modi with similar friendliness. “Of all the people, I wanted to invite you,” he said. As Mr. Modi walked to the podium, he received a standing ovation and some lawmakers chanted his name.

There was, however, some dissent as a handful of left-wing lawmakers boycotted the speech.

“We must never sacrifice human rights at the altar of political expediency,” wrote four of them – Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Ihan Omar and Jamaal Bowman – in a statement. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that Mr. Modi had “engaged in systematic human rights abuses of religious minorities and caste-oppressed communities” and should not have been invited to speak.

The visit comes as both the U.S. and India seek alliances against China. Mr. Biden has left in place tariffs on Chinese goods and is attempting to reduce his country’s dependence on Beijing for high-tech products and raw materials. At the White House, Mr. Modi vowed that his country and the U.S. “will create reliable secure and resilient global supply chains.”

In his congressional speech, the Prime Minister warned that “dark clouds of coercion and confrontation are casting their shadow in the Indo-Pacific,” in an apparent reference to China’s attempts to dominate the region. “We believe in working together for prosperity.”

Daniel Markey, an expert on South Asia at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, said the U.S. relationship with India is an alliance of convenience.

India can help Washington in its economic competition with China while also providing intelligence on Beijing’s military activities in the region. Increasing Indian anxiety about its disputed border with China, meanwhile, gives Mr. Modi added incentive to work with Mr. Biden, he said. More narrowly, Indian-American voters are a growing demographic that both major political parties would like to court.

“India’s attractiveness to the U.S. is on multiple counts. What does China have? An enormous population, which means a lot in terms of skilled engineers and scientists in the coming decades. Working with India, a massive market with massive numbers of young people, balances that,” Mr. Markey said.

Still, he said, Mr. Biden may have gone too far in his praise of Mr. Modi.

“I would have liked to see the balance in that news conference struck a little differently,” he said. “Obviously, the decision has been made to play up the positive and I can certainly understand why. But Biden could have avoided being quite so effusive.”