Washington, Sep 21 (UNI) Ahead of US President Joe Biden’s bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, the US said it will give the two leaders an opportunity to talk about the threat of terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan, as well as help reinforce and give momentum to the Quad discussion.

“In the bilateral with Prime Minister Modi, the two leaders will have the opportunity to talk about the broader threat of counterterrorism and the situation in Afghanistan and how we can work together to fight our common enemy of terrorism, as well as to talk about a range of regional issues and developments where we’ll have the opportunity to compare notes,” a senior US administration official said in a background press briefing.

“In terms of the bilateral with Prime Minister Modi, this will be the first in-person meeting with Prime Minister Modi, on Friday.

“And it will be an opportunity to really go from strength to strength, from the point of view of our global partnership with India, by working together to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific by the steps that our two countries — who are both vital in the global fight against COVID-19 — can each take practically to contribute to a global solution and by taking concerted action to address the climate crisis.”

“So, in an interesting way, the bilateral discussion between the U.S. and India will help reinforce and give momentum to the Quad discussion because many of the topics are very much interrelated,” the official said.


“And then the very last thing I would just say is the relationship between the United States and India goes so much deeper than just a government-to-government relationship; it really is a relationship between two peoples.

“And I think Prime Minister Modi and President Biden really want to talk about the ways of pulling our countries even closer together at basically every level of interaction between our societies,” he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be travelling to the US to participate in the Quad Leaders’ Summit on September 24 and also address the UN General Assembly on September 25.

Prime Minister Modi will have a bilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden during his visit to Washington for the first in-person Quad Leaders Summit.
UNI/RN