PM Modi, President Obama Begin Talks in White House

Washington DC: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama have begun bilateral talks at the Oval Office in the White House. The meeting is the centrepiece of PM Modi's two-day visit to the White House.

Hours before the meeting began, The Washington Post today published an op-ed bylined "By Narendra Modi and Barack Obama" and titled - "A renewed US-India partnership for the 21st century." (5 Big Quotes From Joint Op-Ed by Obama and PM Modi)
 
"The true potential of our relationship has yet to be fully realized. The advent of a new government in India is a natural opportunity to broaden and deepen our relationship," the two leaders have written and also, "our partnership is robust, reliable and enduring, and it is expanding."

They have signed off by saying, "Forward together we go - chalein saath saath."
 
During their talks today, Mr Obama and Mr Modi will focus on economic growth and cooperation on security, clean energy, climate change and other issues, the White House has said.
 
They will also address regional concerns, including Afghanistan, where the US is winding down its 13-year military involvement and are expected to discuss US-led efforts to combat Islamic State extremists in Syria and Iraq.
 
In their op-ed the leaders said, "As global partners, we are committed to enhancing our homeland security by sharing intelligence, through counterterrorism and law-enforcement cooperation."
 
The United States has been keen to expand business and security ties with India, which it sees as a key counterbalance to an increasingly assertive China in Asia.
 
Typically, visiting heads of state spend just a portion of a day at the White House meeting with Mr Obama and other US leaders. A second day of attention from the US President is rare.
 
Last night, the Prime Minister was hosted at dinner by President Obama, with Vice President Joe Biden and other key US officials also present.
 
Mr Modi, who was denied a visa to the United States in 2005 on human rights grounds over communal riots in his home state of Gujarat three years before that, has been courted heavily by the US since he took office.
 
The Washington leg of the PM's US visit comes after a three-day trip to New York, where Mr Modi met 17 US corporate leaders, some of them over breakfast, others in one-on-one meetings, and told them that he is committed to liberalizing India's economy and slashing the country's infamous red tape.
 
Early this morning, the PM visited the Gandhi memorial in Washington. (Read More)