NEW DELHI, Sept 09 (AP): President Joe Biden frequently says that what sets him apart is his ability to make friends on a global stage. His presence at the Group of 20 summit in India could reveal just how deep and sincere those friendships are.
For more than a year, Biden has been cultivating a relationship with the G20 host, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The prime minister's home was Biden's first stop after he arrived in New Delhi on Friday. The U.S. president received a Bollywood-style greeting after Air Force One landed, with dancers in flowing purple outfits gyrating to American pop music.
Having feted Modi with a state visit to Washington in June, Biden is banking on the idea that successful diplomacy depends on personal connections. But any connection will largely be outside of the public view. White House reporters traveling with Biden were denied access to the leaders' meeting.
The two have had more than a dozen in-person or virtual engagements since 2021 as both look to tighten the U.S.-India partnership amid shared major concerns. Those include an increasingly assertive China and monumental challenges posed by climate change, artificial intelligence, global supply chain resilience and other issues.
Modi has heavily branded the summit as his own. The Indian prime minister has pictures of himself posted along the highway from the airport, greeting G20 delegates with quotes about climate change, innovation and India's unique role as an advocate for developing countries. As a result, Biden will be something of a houseguest when he meets with his Indian counterpart.
"This meeting will be taking place at the prime minister's residence - so it is unusual in that respect," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Thursday aboard Air Force One. "This is not your typical bilateral visit to India with meetings taking place in the prime minister's office."
Biden, a center-left Democrat, and Modi, a conservative Hindu nationalist, are hardly ideological soulmates. Yet, both leaders are increasingly drawn together by China's military and economic maneuverings in the Indo-Pacific.
India late last month lodged an objection through diplomatic channels with Beijing over China's new standard map that lays claim to India's territory along their shared border.
The version of the Chinese map published by the Ministry of Natural Resources website shows Arunachal Pradesh and the Doklam Plateau - over which the two sides have feuded - included within Chinese borders, along with Aksai Chin in the western section that China controls but India still claims. The Philippines and Malaysia have also lodged protests over the new Chinese map.
The map was released just days after Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - and agreed to work to de-escalate tensions at their disputed border.
China and India have had thousands of troops facing off in a disputed region of the Himalayas since 2020, when skirmishes led to the first deadly clashes in decades. Both countries are nuclear armed.
