Washington, DC – The White House on Wednesday expressed deep satisfaction over the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the US President Barack Obama was very pleased to host Modi and looked forward to extensive cooperation between the oldest and the largest democracies in the world.
Addressing the daily White House press briefing, Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman told journalists, “The President was very pleased with the opportunity that he had to visit with Prime Minister Modi. It reflects that depth of the strong relationship between the United States and India that the two leaders were able to come together and discuss a broad array of topics. Each of those topics represents an area of important cooperation between our two countries.”
In reply to a question, about what message the White House wanted to give to the people of India as Modi was flying back home, Earnest said that, “the Indian people saw some important images. They saw the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of India sitting down, side by side in the Oval Office, discussing shared interests and priorities between our two countries.”
“The people of India also saw the President travel with Prime Minister Modi to the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial on the National Mall, and I think that sends a pretty clear signal about the shared values of our two countries and our two democracies. It also demonstrates a shared commitment to the success of our two democracies,” continued Earnest.
Earnest further confided, “The President really enjoyed the visit and I think it’s indicative of the kind of strong partnership that exists between the two leaders and between our two countries.”
On another question, if the US was disappointed that India didn’t openly join the coalition fighting against ISIS/ISIL, Earnest said, “Tejinder, we certainly value the strong security partnership that we have with India, that we do have a shared commitment to combating terrorism. Both countries, both India and the United States are dealing with threats. And we value the strong relationship that we have so that we can cooperate to meet those threats, to confront those threats, and to mitigate the risk that they pose to our citizens both at home and around the world.”
Pointing to the fact that President Obama, the first Black president in the history of the country, Earnest said, “The President certainly values the opportunity that he had to visit personally with Prime Minister Modi. It was the first opportunity that the two men had had to meet in person. I know the President enjoyed the visit with Prime Minister Modi to the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial,” adding, “And I’m confident that as the relationship between our countries progresses, so will those areas of cooperation.”