ALBWABA - U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden received Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on Wednesday where an intimate dinner in honor of Modi's visit was held, also a musical tribute was paid to the different regions of India.
Despite growing concerns regarding the human rights situation in India, Modi was warmly welcomed by the Bidens, with another number of events including the Grand Yoga Day program in New York City.
Modi's visit comes after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited New Delhi, the Biden Administration released a press statement saying that Sullivan's visit resulted in “underscored the dynamism of the US-India partnership in advance of Prime Minister Modi’s historic official state visit next week to the United States”.
There has been an increase in violent crimes against Muslims and other minorities in India, as the government promotes Hindu ultranationalism at the expense of those who are not Hindu, in what is known as Hindutva.
Human rights advocates criticized welcoming the Indian leader because they saw it as publicly endorsing the country's far-right nationalist leadership. Activists claim that this runs counter to the stated goal of demonstrating human rights and democracy in what the United States has always pushed as the cornerstone of its foreign policy.
Washington hopes to allegiant India's loyalty to gain stronger influence in the region against China and Russia as China's power grows and has become a source of concern for a lot of neighboring countries.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday that during the visit, Biden is likely to express American concerns about democratic backsliding occurring in India under Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Sullivan told reporters: "We do so in a way where we don’t seek to lecture or assert that we don’t have challenges ourselves," Reuters reported.
