- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (23) met US vice president Kamala Harris at the White House and discussed a range of key issues. Besides, he also presented the Democratic leader, who is of Indian-origin, a bunch of unique gifts from his country.
One of Modi’s gifts to Harris, whose mother was from Tamil Nadu, is a copy of old notifications related to her late grandfather PV Gopalan in a wooden handicraft frame. Gopalan was a respected civil servant in India who had served in various parts of the country in the 1950s and 1960s.
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Modi also gave Harris a gulabi Meenakshi chess set, the design of which is closely associated with Kashi, one of the oldest religious cities in the world which also happens to be the constituency (Varanasi) of Modi. Each piece on the colourful set is an example of remarkable craftsmanship.
The Indian prime minister also presented some unique gifts to his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison and Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga who have also reached the US for the first-ever in-person Quad summit. He gave a silver gulabi meenakari ship to Morrison and a sandalwood Buddha statue to Suga.
During his talks with the California-born Harris who he called a “source of inspiration” for many people around the world, Modi said the bilateral relations between India and the US will scale new heights under the leadership of president Joe Biden and his deputy Harris.
Harris agreed with Modi over the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific region at a time when Washington is aiming to solidify its pivot toward Asia and strengthen ties with allies to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
“The United States, like India, feels very strongly about the pride of being a member of the Indo Pacific, but also the fragility and importance…of those relationships, including maintaining a free and open Indo Pacific,” Harris told Modi during their meeting.
The two leaders also spoke on further cementing the Indo-US strategic partnership and discussed global issues including threats to democracy, Afghanistan, etc.
The meeting also marked a celebratory moment for the four-million strong Indian diaspora in the US and Indians back home who take pride in Harris’s Indian roots. Modi also termed Harris, the US’s first ever female vice president, a “real friend” for her support for India.
“The oldest democracy and the largest democracy…we are indeed natural partners, we have similar values,” Modi said.
Harris also welcomed India’s decision to resume exports of the Covid-19 vaccine and said both countries must work closely to save democracies around the world. India, which is the world’s largest maker of the vaccine, recently said that it would resume exporting vaccines later this year after suspending it in April after a deadly second wave rattled its population.
“When India experienced the surge of COVID in the country, the United States was very proud to support India in its need and responsibility to vaccinate its people, and I welcome India’s announcement that it will soon be able to resume vaccine exports,” Harris said.
The vice president also ‘suo moto’ referred to Pakistan’s role in terrorism during her meeting with Modi. She said terror groups were present in Pakistan and asked Islamabad to take action against them so that the security of India and the US is not threatened, news agency Press Trust of India reported, citing India’s ministry of external affairs.
“When the issue of terrorism came up, the vice president suo moto referred to Pakistan’s role in that regard (terrorism),” the agency quoted foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla as telling reporters after the Modi-Harris talks.
When asked if the issue of Pakistan’s role in terrorism came up during the Harris-Modi talks, Shringla confirmed the development and added that the US vice president also mentioned that terror groups were operational in Pakistan.
“She (Harris) asked Pakistan to take action so that this will not impact US security and that of India,” the foreign secretary was quoted as saying. “She agreed with the prime minister’s briefing on the fact of cross-border terrorism, and the fact that India has been a victim of terrorism for several decades now and on the need to rein in, and closely monitor Pakistan’s support for such terrorist groups.”
