Modi, Obama push for strategic ties

New York, September 28 

Agreeing to "further refine" the India-US strategic partnership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama today decided to step up cooperation in areas like security, counter-terrorism, defence, economy and climate change.

Edit: I-ways to development

During the fifth meeting between the two leaders in over a year, Obama also reiterated support for India's permanent membership of the UN Security Council while Modi pressed for reform of the world body within a fixed time frame.

The climate change issue dominated the talks, with Obama saying India's leadership at the upcoming global conference in Paris in November will set the tone for decades to come after Modi underlined the need for concrete outcomes at the meet.

Underlining India's commitment to deal with the problem, Modi said there should be no negativity ahead of the global summit as he pressed for transfer of finances and technology to developing countries at affordable costs and make it accessible to those in need.

Setting the tone for the delegation-level meeting, Obama warmly received Modi by hugging him. "We discussed how we can further refine our strategic vision," said Obama after the hour-long talks.

He said the two leaders discussed how to move forward in various areas like security, economy, trade and investment as also cooperation in defence procurement.

"On all these issues, the Prime Minister has been an outstanding partner," Obama said. "Our meeting today was very productive in advancing some of our immediate priorities as also our broader strategic partnership," Modi said.

Appreciating the US President's "friendship, vision and commitment for the relationship", he said the bilateral partnership addresses a broad range of strategic and security concerns — counter-terrorism, cyber security and training.

"Our defence cooperation, including defence trade and training is expanding. As existing terrorism threats grow and new ones emerge, we have resolved to further deepen cooperation on counter-terrorism and radicalism," the Prime Minister said. 

Modi also held separate meetings with his British counterpart David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande during which talks were held on key issues like terrorism, UNSC reforms and climate change. Modi held the bilaterals soon after he arrived from his weekend trip to the Silicon Valley where he met several technology leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google's newly appointed Indian-origin CEO Sundar Pichai. — PTI