Full text of joint statement between India and the US following meetings between Modi and Biden on G20, Chandrayaan-3, Quad, and more

During the talks, the US president also reiterated his support for an updated UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member, according to the joint statement.

On his first trip to India as US President, Joe Biden arrived in New Delhi on Friday and met privately with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his home at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg. The trip comes three months after Modi made an official State visit to the United States and a day before the G20 Summit in the nation’s capital.

The two leaders discussed a variety of topics, including the Indo-Pacific region’s need for a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific, India’s G20 Presidency and their commitment to the G20 as a forum, “Chandrayaan-3’s historic landing at the south polar region of the Moon,” and the significance of the Quad group of countries. In the course of the discussions, the US president also restated his support for an updated UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member, according to a joint statement released by both countries.

The complete text of the statement is as follows:

• President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. was welcomed to India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, reinforcing the strong and long-standing relationship between the two countries. The leaders expressed their gratitude for the significant work being made to put into practice the ground-breaking accomplishments of Prime Minister Modi’s historic visit to Washington in June 2023.
• The leaders urged their governments to keep up the effort to transform the India-U.S. Strategic Partnership in line with all aspects of our complex global agenda and on the basis of trust and understanding. The leaders highlighted once more how important it is for both of our countries to uphold the values of freedom, democracy, human rights, inclusiveness, pluralism, and equal opportunity for all citizens in order for our relations to be successful.
• President Biden applauded India for continuing to show how the G20 as a forum is producing significant results during its G20 presidency. The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the G20 and expressed confidence that the outcomes of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi will advance the shared objectives of hastening sustainable development, fostering multilateral cooperation, and fostering global agreement on inclusive economic policies to address our greatest shared challenges, including fundamentally reshaping and expanding multilateral development banks.
• President Biden and Prime Minister Modi reiterated the significance of the Quad in fostering a free, open, inclusive, and robust Indo-Pacific. President Biden would be a welcome guest at the upcoming Quad Leaders’ Summit that India will hold in 2024, said Prime Minister Modi. Following the U.S. intention to join the IPOI in June 2023, India welcomed the U.S. decision to co-lead the IPOI Pillar on Trade Connectivity and Maritime Transport.
• President Biden reiterated his support for a reformed UN Security Council with India as a permanent member, continuing to share the belief that global governance must be more inclusive and representative. In this context, he once again welcomed India’s candidacy for the UNSC non-permanent seat in 2028–2029. The leaders emphasized the need to strengthen and reform the multilateral system once more in order for it to better reflect modern realities and to continue pursuing a comprehensive UN reform agenda, including by increasing the number of permanent and non-permanent categories of UN Security Council members.
• President Biden and Prime Minister Modi praised ongoing efforts made by the India-U.S. Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) to create open, approachable, secure, and resilient technology ecosystems and value chains that uphold our shared values and democratic institutions. They also reaffirmed the crucial role that technology plays in strengthening our strategic partnership. To maintain momentum leading up to the following annual iCET assessment, which will be co-led by the National Security Advisors of both countries in early 2024, the United States and India intend to conduct a midterm review of iCET in September 2023.
• President Biden thanked Prime Minister Modi and the engineers and scientists of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on the successful launch of Aditya-L1, India’s first solar mission, and Chandrayaan-3’s historic landing at the south polar area of the moon. The leaders praised efforts to create a Working Group for commercial space cooperation under the already-existing India-U.S. Civil Space Joint Working Group, having established a course to achieve new frontiers across all sectors of space cooperation. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have begun discussions on the modalities, capacity building, and training for mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024. These discussions are part of a larger effort to deepen our partnership in space exploration.
• The leaders reaffirmed their support for the development of resilient global semiconductor supply chains, noting in this regard a multi-year initiative of Microchip Technology, Inc., to invest approximately US$300 million in boosting its research and development presence in India, as well as Advanced Micro Device’s announcement to invest US$400 million in India over the following five years in order to boost research, development, and engineering operations there. The announcements made in June 2023 by American businesses Micron, LAM Research, and Applied Materials were met with approval by the leaders.