United States President Joe Biden this Thursday downplayed the importance of calling Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator” at a fundraiser last Tuesday. Although the embassy in Washington has taken its protest to the State Department, Biden said he doesn’t think his words have “any real consequences” and that he hopes to meet with Xi soon. Biden made these statements at a joint press conference in the White House with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with whom the United States wants to strengthen its relations as a counterweight to China.
In the first question, Biden was asked whether his testimony could undermine or complicate relations with China. “The answer is no,” Biden said, but then offered a somewhat choppy and confusing explanation. After stuttering, he began, “Not much will change if you decide or avoid saying what I believe are the facts about relations with China,” he said. He apparently described the Chinese balloon incident as a mix-up and assured Foreign Minister Antony Blinken’s trip had been a success. “I hope to meet President Xi at some point in the future and in the near future and I don’t think there have been any real consequences,” he concluded.
The US President remained deaf to the Chinese embassy in Washington, which had announced that it had lodged a formal protest. Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng on Wednesday told senior White House and State Department officials that Washington should “take serious steps to reverse the negative impact” of Biden’s remarks or “face all the consequences.” “In the face of recent irresponsible remarks about China’s political system and its supreme leader, people cannot help but question the sincerity of the US side” in its attempt to stabilize ties, the embassy statement said, calling it ” provocative”. Politics” Biden’s words.
Although Modi is not head of state but prime minister, he was received with all the pageantry and frills of a state visit. The Indian president had a more informal White House dinner on Wednesday, but this Thursday he will be attending the third state dinner Biden has hosted in his nearly two-and-a-half years as president.
The two gave speeches in front of around 7,000 guests in the gardens of the White House in the morning, in which they spoke out in favor of economic, commercial, political and defense cooperation and for strengthening relations between the two countries. More than four million Americans have roots in India, including Vice President Kamala Harris. Modi described both countries as “the two greatest democracies in the world”.
Narendra Modi with Joe Biden at the White House this Thursday. Andrew Harnik (AP)
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After meeting in the Oval Office, both appeared at a press conference. Biden called the United States-India relationship “one of the most important in the world, stronger, closer, and more dynamic than at any time in history.” “Our nations look to one another on the issues that matter most and will shape the future, including on critical global and regional issues,” Biden said.
Curiously, Modi’s White House press conference was the first he has granted since taking office nine years ago. He has always shied away from answering the press and on this occasion he was confronted with two questions. The first was about denouncing human rights violations by some minorities in his country, particularly Muslims. Modi has denied this while groups of activists demonstrated outside the White House against these abuses. “There is absolutely no room for discrimination,” he said.
“Democracy is our spirit,” clarified Modi, who has attempted to equate Indian democracy with that of the United States. “Democracy is in our blood. We live democracy and our ancestors gave words to the concept.” He explained that India has “proved that democracies can deliver and when I say deliver, it is without regard to class, creed, religion or gender.
Biden assured that both had a “good conversation about democratic values” during their meeting. He began by implying that the alliance between the two countries should be based “on the principles of democracy, human rights, freedom and the rule of law”. The mere mention of these issues is an indication that democratic backsliding in the country is affected.
Another issue they dealt with was the war in Ukraine, where both countries had different points of view. India abstained from voting on UN resolutions condemning Russia and refused to join the anti-Moscow global coalition. Also, India has dramatically increased its purchases of Russian oil since the war began. The differences also persist in the vocabulary. While Biden speaks of “brutal war”, Modi speaks of “events” and “strife”.
“We discussed our joint efforts to mitigate the human tragedies unleashed by Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine and uphold the fundamental principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity in the United Nations Charter,” Biden said. “Since the beginning of events in Ukraine. India has emphasized resolving the dispute through dialogue and diplomacy. “We are fully ready to help restore peace with whatever we can,” Modi said.
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