India’s Modi to visit White House in June as Biden seeks stronger ties amid competition with China

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House next month. Biden is aiming to court an Indo-Pacific leader with whom he’s sought stronger ties at a time when the United States looks to blunt China’s growing assertiveness in the region. U.S.-India relations under Biden have been warm, but also complex. Biden is working to improve U.S. relations with the world’s largest democracy while at the same time looking to counter China’s growing economic and military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. India, unlike nearly every other major U.S. ally, hasn’t imposed sanctions on Russia and has offered only limited criticism of its invasion of Ukraine. Russia is India’s biggest supplier of military hardware.