In Oval, Joe Biden and PM Modi spent plurality of their time on China: Official

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden during their meeting at the Oval Office last month spent plurality of their time having discussions on China and its leader Xi Jinping according to a senior administration official familiar with the discussionIn the Oval Office meeting between Modi and Biden a plurality of that time was just spent talking about China and the experiences theyve had with Xi both knowing him for a long time trying really hard to have a relationship with him and just both essentially giving up on said the senior administration official who spoke on conditions of anonymityThe official said China was a major issue of discussionIn reality it China is not the glue of our relationship at all but its one of the factors and I think were gonna have that glue for a long time to come said the official familiar with the discussions between the two leaders last monthModi met Biden for all three days between June 21 and June 23 during the Indian prime ministers state visit to the USOn June 22 wherein the US president welcomed the prime minister at the White House in the morning and the State Dinner later in the evening Biden and Modi spent time together for more than eight hoursBoth India and the United States believe that China poses a major national security threat to them the official said noting that the Biden administration thinks New Delhi has been ahead of Washington in terms of handling BeijingThe Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security Democracy and Human Rights Uzra Zeya had a meeting with the Dalai Lama a couple of weeks ago in New Delhi and the Chinese kind of went nuts about that the official notedThey Indians are in some ways were ahead of us It is much more existential for them in terms of countering the China threat Whether its banning TikTok whether it was building up mobile networks with no Chinese equipment theyve actually shown a way forward of what derisking looks like And thats why I think theyre so critical said the officialAt the same time they still depend on a lot of Chinese things just like we do China has been a real irritant in G20 for them Russia too the official noted giving an insight into the G20 discussions and the balancing act that India is doing to bring all stakeholders togetherObserving that India and the United States have never had a stronger relationship than now the official said that post the visit of Modi it has never been deeper in the memory of the presidentIn India Modis popularity is about 80 per cent in some polls so is AmericasAmerica is as popular as Modi is in India Its a place where theres an immense reservoir of goodwill towards Americans towards America and a desire to get even closer the official saidThats not just reflected at the very top which is where we usually write about or hear about Its I think underneath that at the governmenttogovernment level businesstobusiness level And then people to people the official saidVice Versa if the bridge from India to America is a steel reinforced fourlane highway a strong stable bridge I would describe in years past the bridge from America to India has been like a rope bridge with every other plank missing Like we dont know India and Indians anywhere near the level that India and Indians know America and Americans I think thats beginning to change said the official referring to a large number of highlevel visits to IndiaTheres hardly a week or two that goes by without a major US government representative being in the country And then on the business side its like a steady stream of CEOs Some have better strategies than others but everybodys like rushing India said the officialIts one of those moments where if you rewind the clock China 15 years ago was raising people at this pace out of poverty into the middle class India is actually doing it a little faster than China was 15 or 20 years ago You just look at the metrics whether its the number one source of student visas now India surpassed China last year whether its the investment which is a record level and were the number one trading partner for India for the first time And another number of other metrics the official saidThis is the most significant country in many ways for them and becoming one of the most The president said one of the most consequential relationships we have Privately hes expressed that this is the most important relationship that we have at least in terms of growth and and the future said the officialThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever