Biden and Modi working in 'warmth and confidence' to build ties as Chinese leader skips G20

Biden spent 52 minutes with Modi after a lavish welcome ceremony at the airport, and Kurt Campbell, a Biden adviser on the Indo-Pacific, told reporters afterwards that warm sentiments have replaced a sense of distrust and uncertainty that previously defined relations between the two countries.

“What I have seen grown over time is an undeniable warmth and confidence between the two leaders," Campbell said.

Another adviser, Eileen Laubacher, senior director for South Asia at the White House National Security Council, added that Biden and Modi were "so comfortable discussing, really, the breadth of things that we’re trying to accomplish together.”

A joint statement issued after the meeting reaffirmed US-India partnerships on several fronts, especially with regard to computer chips, telecommunications, higher education, access to shipping lanes in the Indo-Pacific and the reduction of carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Biden also congratulated Modi on India’s recent moon landing.

While India was disappointed that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to attend the G20, those absences could give Biden the space to further stitch together US and India ties.

“There are undeniable opportunities here for the United States,” Campbell said. “We fully intend to strengthen and deepen our relationship. We leave it to China, in particular, to discuss and explain why they’re not here.”

Campbell also suggested that a major infrastructure and communications project to connect India with the Middle East and Europe will be announced soon.

But when asked if Biden pushed Modi on press access and broader democratic issues in India, Campbell said Biden tries to be clear about issues critical to the health of democracy. Still, Campbell declined to get into specifics, saying the president “has determined that he wants to conduct that dialogue in a dignified, respectful way."

The US president received a Bollywood-style greeting after Air Force One landed, with dancers in flowing purple outfits gyrating to pop music.

Having feted Modi with a state visit to Washington in June, Biden is banking on the idea that successful diplomacy