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President Joe Biden has met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reinforce the bonds between their nations.

During a prelude to the weekend’s G20 summit in New Delhi, President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized their mutual commitment to fostering “a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific” as Quad alliance members, a collective also involving Australia and Japan.

The leaders highlighted shared concerns regarding China’s ascending influence in the region, with the US saying India could be a potential counterbalance to China’s dominance. Modi expressed ambitions of positing India as an emergent leader in the Global South, a position that is widely considered to be held by Beijing.

The meeting also brought up recent contentions with China, including India’s anger lodged last month against Beijing’s newly delineated map asserting territorial jurisdiction over areas India claims sovereignty over. This map emerged shortly after commitments were made to assuage the prevailing border disputation during a BRICS summit conversation between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping

Signifying strides in their bilateral relations, President Biden and Modi celebrated a pact permitting General Electric to manufacture jet engines in India to fuel the nation’s military aircraft, alongside a consensus on a drone purchase from the US. The connection between the two countries is predicated on a shared endorsement of “freedom, democracy, human rights, inclusion, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all citizens,” as cited in a joint communiqué.