“Joe Biden and Narendra Modi to Meet for State Visit to White House”

Joe Biden and Narendra Modi will meet for a state visit to the White House.

By Le Figaro with AFP

Published on 05/10/2023 at 4:36 p.m.update on 05/10/2023 at 6:26 p.m.

The American President Joe Biden will receive on June 22 the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a state visit, the most solemn form of reception at the White House, his spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The visit musthighlight the deep and close partnership between the United States and India“said Karine Jean-Pierre in a press release, as well as”the warm ties of family and friendshipbetween the two countries.

Evoke the influence of China

The event must alsostrengthen our two countries’ shared commitment to a free, open, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific“wrote the spokesperson. This formula is, for the Americans, a way of evoking without naming it the growing regional influence of China, which they promise to counter.

However, the press release does not mention Ukraine, a delicate subject if ever there was one: India, Russia’s long-standing military ally, called for an end to hostilities in Ukraine, but did not never condemned the Russian invasion. A State visit is the highest level of protocol for the visit of a Head of State.

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Under Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron was the first to be entitled to this particularly solemn treatment, between military honors and a gala dinner, before, more recently, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Narendra Modi had already come to the White House in September 2021, but as part of a larger meeting, that of the Quad, the alliance which brings together the United States, India, Japan and Australia. It will be the Hindu nationalist prime minister’s first state visit to Washington since he assumed the post a decade ago.

Narendra Modi, criticized by the UN for his human rights record, is nonetheless a leader much courted by Westerners. For example, he will be the guest of honor at the military parade on July 14 in Paris, the day of the French national holiday.