Modi meets Obama at White House
India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the White House yesterday, on the latest stop in his headline-grabbing debut tour of the world stage after his Hindu nationalist party's crushing election win.
President Barack Obama welcomed Modi to Oval Office talks which both sides hope will overcome niggling differences and revive a partnership which both see as vital, but that has been under strain in recent years.
The US leader was expected to press Modi on the implementation of a stalled World Trade Organization commerce pact and to consult with him on the campaign against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq and on other key issues, including global warming and geopolitics in Asia.
Modi actually made his debut at the White House on Tuesday night, when he attended a private dinner hosted by Obama at the ornate Blue Room of the presidential residence.
White House chefs served up crisp Halibut in ginger carrot sauce, though Modi had given advance notice he would not eat as he is in the middle of an annual religious fast.
Yesterday, Modi re-staged his arrival for the cameras, driving in a black sports utility vehicle with US and Indian flags flying from the fenders, up to the West Wing of the White House through a US military color guard.
Obama and Modi were expected to give statements to the press after an hour-and-a-half of talks.
In an op-ed article in the Washington Post, Modi and Obama lauded the partnership between the world's oldest democracy and its largest one, but said there was much more to come.
"The true potential of our relationship has yet to be fully realized," they wrote.
"The advent of a new government in India is a natural opportunity to broaden and deepen our relationship."
Indian American activists have pressed for years to rehabilitate the image of Modi, who was denied a visa to the United States in 2005 on human rights grounds over anti-Muslim riots in his home state of Gujarat.
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