President Joe Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator” barely 24 hours after he received Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing last Monday to reduce tension.
There was a general consensus that this disqualification directed at Xi, the president of the main rival power in the economic and military spheres, was one more of his blunders.
Instead, yesterday he laid out the red carpet at the White House and paid all the honors to the Prime Minister of India, Narenda Modi, who is not exactly characterized by developing a democratic style, or not for everyone, famous for his little respect for rights humans and dissident of the position of the United States and the western allies in the war for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Biden always resorts to idealistic rhetoric in foreign relations and marks the battle between democracy and autocracy as one of the decisive questions of this age. But not this time, when everything is transformed into the current global geostrategy chessboard, as India emerges as a counterweight to the long shadow cast by Beijing. You have to look the other way.
“The challenges and opportunities facing the world require us to work and lead together, and that is what we are at,” said the host as he welcomed his guest.
The prime minister spoke of the fact that both countries “are proud of their diversity and share basic democratic values”, a phrase that made quite a few members of the Democratic Party blush. Nearly a hundred legislators from the Lower House and the Senate sent him a letter asking Biden to bring up the issue of human rights at this meeting.
In statements to CNN, former President Barack Obama defended that his friend Biden should bring up that issue for the good of India. “My argument would be that if you don’t protect the rights of minorities in your country, there is a very good chance that India will start to separate at some point,” he said.
In fact, a demonstration of supporters was organized in the surroundings of the White House, but among which there were also opponents with signs that said: “Say no to Modi.”
At a press conference with Biden (the first time he has answered press questions in nine years, according to local media), Modi denied any abuse of power. “I’m surprised they tell me this,” he tore away. “We live in a democracy, with no room for discrimination; Democracy is in our DNA, in our spirit, it runs through our veins,” he said.
Biden did not make him ugly in public. “We have had a good discussion about democratic values, which are in the nature of our relationship, and we treat each other with respect,” she clarified.
The guest, who seeks influence for the world’s most populous nation, thanked the ceremonious welcome, “an honor for the 1.4 billion Indian citizens and the more than four million who reside in the United States,” he said.
Actually, Modi was already at the presidential residence in Washington on Wednesday afternoon (private dinner with the Bidens), after previously participating in the UN headquarters in New York, in a session on the occasion of Yoga Day.
The congratulations included a speech in Congress yesterday, topped off with a gala dinner at the White House. This treatment is only comparable to that granted to the presidents of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, and of France, Emmanuel Macron, countries well aligned with US policy, be it in Ukraine or in condemnation of autocratic governments.
By contrast, Modi, who represents the fifth largest economy and the fastest growing in the G-20 group, has always abstained from voting at the United Nations to demand that Vladimir Putin be held accountable, and has become one of the best customers of Russian oil. In just over a year, analysts say, India has gone from buying little fuel from Moscow to buying half of what Russia exports by sea.
As the circumstances are, and in the face of the accusations made against Modi, especially for the lack of respect for religious freedom, the State Department is as silent in the face of these denunciations as it is noisy in condemning the transgressions they commit others that play a less important role in the international game.
India is positioned, for the US government, as the argument in Asia to counter China, both in the military and economic aspects.
In this sense, the two leaders announced initiatives to advance cooperation in telecommunications, semiconductors and artificial intelligence, among others. Modi intends to sign the Artemis agreement (principles governing the peaceful exploration of the Moon, Mars and others) and plans a joint mission to the international space station in 2024.
Biden alluded to the 2,000 million that India has committed to invest in the US “Both countries are entrepreneurs,” he said. While Modi alluded to a new chapter in the global cooperation strategy.
But where there was full harmony was in the defense of the Indo-Pacific space.
“It is our priority,” Modi stressed. “We want a free, secure and progress zone,” said Biden, who maintained that his labeling of Xi as a “dictator” will have no consequences.
