PM Modi-Biden meet led to substantive outcomes, will add depth to ties: MEA

Tokyo [Japan], May 24 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a productive meeting with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday that resulted in substantive outcomes which will add depth and momentum to the bilateral partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday.
The meeting marks a continuation of the regular high-level dialogue between the two leaders. A full US delegation for the meeting with PM Modi included Scott Nathan of the US International Development Finance Corp.
The US delegation also included State Secretary Antony Blinken and Biden's National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan.
"The India-US Comprehensive Strategic Global Partnership is underpinned by a shared commitment to democratic values, rule of law, and a commitment to uphold a rules-based international order. The Leaders expressed happiness with the progress made across sectors in the bilateral agenda," the MEA said in a statement.
The two leaders welcomed the signing of the Investment Incentive Agreement which enables the US Development Finance Corporation to continue providing investment support in India in sectors of shared priority such as healthcare, renewable energy, SMEs, infrastructure etc.
Both sides launched an India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) to facilitate outcome-oriented cooperation.
"Co-led by the National Security Council Secretariat in India and the U.S. National Security Council, iCET would forge closer linkages between government, academia and industry of the two countries in areas such as AI, quantum computing, 5G/6G, biotech, space and semiconductors," the MEA said,
Noting that defence and security cooperation is a crucial pillar of the India-US bilateral agenda, both sides discussed how they can further strengthen collaboration.
"In this context, Prime Minister invited the US industry to partner with India to manufacture in India under the Make in India and Aatma Nirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India programmes which can be of mutual benefit to both countries," the MEA statement said.
Taking forward their growing collaboration in the health sector, India and USA extended the longstanding Vaccine Action Programme (VAP) until 2027 to continue joint biomedical research which had resulted in the development of vaccines and related technologies.
To bolster the strong people to people linkages between the two countries, PM Modi called for strengthening higher education collaborations which can be of mutual benefit.
The leaders also exchanged views on regional issues of mutual interest including South Asia and in the Indo-Pacific region, reaffirming their shared vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. (ANI)