President Biden to Host PM Modi in June

wasHIngton dC: President Biden will welcome India’s prime minister to the White House for a state visit and lavish dinner next month, offering a highly valued diplomatic perk to a critical economic ally.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with Mr. Biden on June 22, according to a White House statement on Wednesday. It will be the president’s third state dinner, after hosting the leaders of

France and South Korea. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said the visit would celebrate “the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together.”

For Mr. Biden, the visit is an opportunity to draw India even closer on economic and security cooperation, especially when it comes to countering China’s growing influence over the global marketplace. But the visit will also test one of Mr. Biden’s favorite observations: that the world is at an inflection point where countries must choose between autocracy and democracy.

Mr. Modi, the leader of the globe’s most populous democracy, has been steadily pushing his country toward what is effectively one-party rule, consolidating political power by sidelining his rivals and bending the judicial system to his will. -- NY

Times