Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets US President Barack Obama

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Barack Obama and the latter warmly received Modi by hugging him before their meeting.
This is the fifth time both the leaders have met in a year.

The meeting gave the two leaders an opportunity to take forward the discussions they had in New Delhi in January when Obama travelled to India to attend the Republic Day Parade as its chief guest.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his press statement by recalling mutual visits to Washington and New Delhi
He then went on to say that youth, technology and innovation are the driving forces for the natural partnerships of Indians and Americans in advancing human progress.

“I was in the Silicon Valley over the weekend and experienced the strength of American innovation and enterprise,” he added.

He also thanked Obama for supporting India’s permanent membership of a reformed UNSC, saying that he also sought US support for completing the reforms within a fixed period of time.

Modi also welcomed the progress in the Joint Strategic Vision on Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions and with partners like Japan.

“To further increase our engagement in the region, I look forward to working with the US for India’s early membership of APEC,” said Modi.
He then closed the Press statement with a focus on the economic partnership as a key driver of the relationship.

Earlier in the day, Modi also held bilateral meetings with his British counterpart David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande.

The Modi-Obama meeting comes close on the heels of the conclusion of the inaugural Strategic and Commercial Dialogue between the US and India. In the dialogue, India and the US today agreed to deepen cooperation in fighting terrorism and asked Pakistan to bring to justice the 2008 Mumbai attack perpetrators.

Image credit: @MEAIndia