Monday 10 / March / 2025
Washington: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his press meet in the Washington DC asserted that India is a democracy that values human rights. With the US President Joe Biden by his side, PM Modi said “democracy is in our DNA”, and “there is absolutely no question of discrimination” regardless of “caste, creed, religion and gender” in India.
“And I believe that we believe in the dignity of every citizen and it is in America’s DNA and I believe, it’s in India’s DNA,” he said, adding that, “Prime Minister and I had a good discussion about democratic values… and that is the best part of our relationship. We are straightforward with each other and we respect each other.”
PM Modi further emphasised: “Indeed, India is a democracy and as President Biden also mentioned, India and America, (for) both countries, democracy is in our DNA. Democracy is our spirit. Democracy runs in our veins. We live democracy. And our ancestors have actually put words to this concept, and that is in the form of our Constitution. Our government has taken the basic principles of democracy. And on that basis, our Constitution is made and the entire country runs on that…We have always proved that democracy can deliver. And when I say deliver, this is regardless of caste, creed, religion, gender, there’s absolutely no space for discrimination.”
“And when you talk of democracy, if there are no human values, and there is no humanity, there are no human rights, then it’s not a democracy. And that is why when you say democracy, and you accept democracy, and when we live democracy, then there is absolutely no question of discrimination. And that is why India believes in moving ahead with SabkaSaath, SabkaVikas, SabkaVishwas, SabkaPrayas… these are our foundation principles, which are the basis of how we operate, how we live our lives in India,” he underlined.
“The beauty of democracy is the constant connect with the people, to listen to them, and feel their pulse. And, I know this takes a lot of time, energy, effort, and travel. It is a Thursday afternoon - a fly-out day for some of you. So, I am grateful for your time. I also know how busy you have been this last month. Being a citizen of a vibrant democracy myself, I can admit one thing Mister Speaker – you have a tough job! I can relate to the battles of passion, persuasion and policy. I can understand the debate of ideas and ideology. But I am delighted to see you come together today, to celebrate the bond between world’s two great democracies - India and the United States. I am happy to help out whenever you need a strong bipartisan consensus. There will be – and there must be - a contest of ideas at home. But, we must also come together as one when we speak for our nation,” PM Modi said during his statement.
He emphasised that though India and the US have different circumstances and history, but “we are united by a common vision. And, by a common destiny. When our partnership progresses, economic resilience increases, innovation grows, science flourishes, knowledge advances, humanity benefits, our seas and skies are safer, democracy will shine brighter, and the world will be a better place.”
“That is the mission of our partnership. That is our calling for this century. Mister Speaker and Distinguished members, Even by the high standards of our partnership, this visit is one of a great positive transformation. Together, we shall demonstrate that democracies matter and democracies deliver. I count on your continued support to the India-US partnership,” he added.
PM Modi during his joint-statement said: “We have over two thousand five hundred political parties. Yes, you heard that right- two thousand five hundred. About twenty different parties govern various states of India. We have twenty-two official languages and thousands of dialects, and yet, we speak in one voice. Every hundred miles, our cuisine changes. From Dosa to AlooPrantha and from Srikhand to Sandesh. We enjoy all of these. We are home to all faiths in the world, and we celebrate all of them. In India, diversity is a natural way of life.”
PM Modi held one-on-one talks with Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington DC before holding delegation-level talks. Both the leaders discussed a wide range of issues of mutual and global interests, aimed at further boosting the Indo-US strategic relations in areas like defence, space, clean energy and critical technologies.
The two countries boosted their strategic partnership through a slew of pacts in defence, semi-conductors and space sector.
Prime Minister Modi and President Biden hailed the signing of an MoU on Semiconductor Supply Chain and Innovation Partnership as a significant step in the coordination of our countries’ semiconductor incentive programs. This will promote commercial opportunities, research, talent, and skill development. The leaders welcomed an announcement by Micron Technology, Inc., to invest up to $825 million to build a new semiconductor assembly and test facility in India with support from the Indian government. The combined investment valued at $2.75 billion would create up to 5,000 new direct and 15,000 community jobs opportunities in next five years. The leaders also welcomed Lam Research’s proposal to train 60,000 Indian engineers through its Semiverse Solution virtual fabrication platform to accelerate India’s semiconductor education and workforce development goals, and an announcement by Applied Materials, Inc., to invest $400 million to establish a collaborative engineering center in India.
Both the leaders share a vision of creating secure and trusted telecommunications, resilient supply chains, and enabling global digital inclusion. To fulfill this vision, the leaders launched two Joint Task Forces on advanced telecommunications, focused on Open RAN and research and development in 5G/6G technologies. Public-private cooperation between vendors and operators will be led by India’s Bharat 6G Alliance and the U.S. Next G Alliance. We are partnering on Open RAN field trials and rollouts, including scaled deployments, in both countries with operators and vendors of both markets, backed by U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) financing. The leaders welcomed participation of Indian companies in the U.S. Rip and Replace Program. They endorsed an ambitious vision for 6G networks, including standards cooperation, facilitating access to chipsets for system development, and establishing joint research and development projects. President Biden and Prime Minister Modi also stressed the need to put in place a “Trusted Network/Trusted Sources” bilateral framework.
President Biden and Prime Minister Modi set a course to reach new frontiers across all sectors of space cooperation. The leaders applauded our growing cooperation on earth and space science, and space technologies. They welcomed the decision of NASA and ISRO to develop a strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation by the end of 2023.The leaders hailed the announcement by NASA to provide advanced training to Indian astronauts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, with a goal of mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024.
Both President Biden and Prime Minister Modi acknowledge the profound opportunities and significant risks associated with AI. Accordingly, they committed to develop joint and international collaboration on trustworthy and responsible AI, including generative AI, to advance AI education and workforce initiatives, promote commercial opportunities, and mitigate against discrimination and bias. The United States also supports India’s leadership as Chair of the Global Partnership on AI. The leaders applauded Google’s intent to continue investing through its $10 billion India Digitization Fund, including in early-stage Indian startups. Through its AI Research Center in India, Google is building models to support over 100 Indian languages.
The leaders welcomed an announcement by the U.S. Department of State that it would launch a pilot to adjudicate domestic renewals of certain petition-based temporary work visas later this year, including for Indian nationals, with the intent to implement this for an expanded pool of H1B and L visa holders in 2024 and eventually broadening the programme to include other eligible categories.
