India and US natural allies, says PM Modi at virtual meet with President Biden

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that as largest and oldest democracies, India and US are natural partners and the progress that has taken place in the relations between the two countries in the last few years was hard to even imagine a few decades ago. "As two democracies that are the world’s largest (India) and oldest (US), we are natural partners and the progress that has taken place in our relations in the last few years, the new momentum that has been created has been hard to even imagine a few decades ago," PM Modi said at a virtual interaction with the US President Joe Biden ahead of the 2+2 India-US ministerial dialogue.

PM Modi recalled Biden’s slogan on the India-US relations and said, "At the beginning of your term, you used a very important slogan, ‘democracies can deliver’. The India-US partnership and the success of the relation is the best way to make the slogan meaningful". The Prime Minister reiterated that India condemns the killing of the civilians in Bucha and demands an impartial probe into the matter.

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PM Modi said, "Recent news of the killing of innocent citizens in Bucha city was a matter of concern. We immediately condemned it and also demanded an impartial probe. We hope that through the talks between Russia and Ukraine, a path for peace would come out". PM Modi also shared that India discussed the Ukraine issue in its Parliament. "I have spoken with Presidents of both Ukraine and Russia over the telephone, several times. I not only appealed to them for peace but also suggested President Putin to hold direct talks with the Ukrainian President. Detailed discussions were held over Ukraine, in our Parliament," PM Modi added.

Prime Minister noted that the interaction is being held at a time when the situation in Ukraine is a matter of concern. PM Modi recalled that a few weeks back, over 20,000 Indians were stranded in Ukraine adding that most of them were young students. "After a lot of hard work, we were successful in getting them all out," he added.

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The virtual meeting preceded the fourth India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue which will be led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs (MEA) S Jaishankar on the Indian side and their US counterparts, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. President Biden and PM Modi last spoke during the Quad Leaders meet in March. Earlier, the White House confirmed the meeting saying that the two leaders will meet virtually to "further deepen ties between our governments, economies, and our people."