National Security Council spokesman John Kirby repeatedly denied Friday that President Joe Biden hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House for a state visit in order to strengthen their relationship as a “counterweight to China.”
Tensions between India and China have escalated in recent years following a number of skirmishes at their shared border, yet Kirby, briefing reporters Friday after Modi’s multiday trip to Washington, D.C., said the tour was not meant to send a message to China. The Biden White House spent several months this year openly courting partners, such as the Philippines and South Korea, to counter China in the Indo-Pacific region.
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Kirby faced multiple questions about the timing of Modi’s trip but maintained that both he and Biden were simply pursuing the interests of the American and Indian people.
“It’s a way to encourage mutual investment,” he stated before claiming the meetings were not focused on countering Beijing.
“This wasn’t about leveraging India to be some sort of counterweight” to China, Kirby continued. “India’s a sovereign, independent state. They have their own foreign policy that they have to manage, and they live in a tough neighborhood. They are becoming an increasing exporter of security, which we welcome, and you could see a lot of that in our desire to improve the defense cooperation on hand.”
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You can watch Kirby’s remarks in full below.
