“India is a vibrant democracy. Anybody that, you know, happens to go to New Delhi can see that for themselves. And certainly, I would expect that strength and health of democratic institutions will be part of the discussion,” John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House told reporters.
Kirby’s statement comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US later this month.
“Look, we never shy away. And you can do that with friends. You’re supposed to do that with friends. You never shy away from expressing concerns that we might have with anyone around the world. But this (State) visit is really about advancing what is now and what we hope will be a deeper, stronger partnership and friendship going forward,” Kirby said.
Kirby further said that US President Joe Biden is looking forward to having Prime Minister Modi to talk about various issues and to advance and deepen their partnership and friendship.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to address a joint meeting of the US House of Representatives and Senate on June 22 during his state visit, the leaders of the US Congress said on Friday. This is one of the highest honors Washington affords to foreign dignitaries.
This will be Modi’s sixth visit to the US since taking over as PM in 2014. The two leaders are also expected to meet at the G7 and Quad summit meetings later this month in Hiroshima and Sydney respectively.
The last Indian PM to travel to the US for a state visit was Manmohan Singh in 2009, when he was hosted by then president Barack Obama.
The invitation to the Indian Prime Minister comes amid withering criticism from Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi during his ongoing tour of US of PM Modi‘s purported authoritarianism, an assessment the US establishment does not appear to share despite occasional disapproval of strongarm majoritarianism.
Watch India is a vibrant democracy, go to Delhi and see for yourself: White House
