President Biden emphasized the power of democracies on Thursday when he received Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House. and India.

Speaking at a press conference Thursday, Biden called the relationship between the US and India one of the most profound in the world, stronger, closer and more dynamic than ever in history. He underlined how two of the world’s most powerful democracies worked together on issues such as climate,

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and space, saying that the US-India economic relationship was booming.

On the issues that matter most and will shape the future, our nations look to each other, including on critical regional and global issues, Biden said in his opening remarks.

But alongside Modi, who has come under criticism from human rights defenders, Biden also stressed that press, religious and other fundamental freedoms should be at the heart of how both democracies operate. At their Oval Office meeting, Biden said, he and Modi had a good discussion about democratic values, while Modi said there is absolutely no room for discrimination “when he was called to account for his own commitment to human rights.

Democracy is our spirit,” Modi said through an interpreter. Democracy is in our veins. We live in democracy and our ancestors actually articulated this concept.”

The two leaders devoted Modi’s state visit Thursday to launching new partnerships in defence, semiconductor manufacturing and more sectors as they look to strengthen their country’s crucial, if complicated, relationship.

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Thousands gathered on the White House South Lawn for the welcoming ceremony, listening to performances by violinist Vibha Janakiraman and a cappella group Penn Masala. When Modi arrived, the crowd, including many members of the Indian diaspora, broke into a chant of Modi, Modi, Modi.”

All eyes are on the world’s two largest democracies, India and America, Modi said as the leaders met in the Oval Office. I believe our strategic partnership is important. I have every confidence that cooperation will be successful.

At the earlier welcoming ceremony, Biden said he believes the US-India relationship will be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century. Since I became president, we have built a relationship based on mutual trust, candor and respect.

But as Biden congratulates Modi, human rights lawyers and some US lawmakers are questioning the Democratic president’s decision to bestow high honors on a leader whose nine-year tenure in the world’s largest democracy has caused a setback in political, religious and press freedoms.

Biden government officials say honoring Modi, the leader of the conservative Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party, is diplomacy 101. supply chain resilience and other issues.

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Still, at the start of his Oval Office meeting with Modi, Biden said he wanted the partnership to be based on democracy, human rights, freedom and the rule of law.

Among the announcements to be made on Thursday is an agreement that will allow US-based General Electric to partner with India-based Hindustan Aeronautics to manufacture jet engines for Indian aircraft in India and sell aircraft in the US. armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, according to senior Biden administration officials. The officials informed reporters on the condition of anonymity to preview agreements before announcing them.

The Biden administration is also coming up with plans to strengthen the Indian semiconductor industry. US-based Micron Technology has agreed to build a $2.75

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billion semiconductor assembly and testing facility in India, with Micron spending $800 million and India financing the rest. US-based Applied Materials announces it will launch a new semiconductor commercialization and innovation center in India, and Lam Research, another semiconductor manufacturing equipment company, will launch a training program for 60,000 Indian engineers.

On the space front, India will sign the Artemis Accords, a blueprint for space exploration cooperation between countries participating in NASA’s lunar exploration plans. NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization also agreed to make a joint mission to the International Space Station next year.

We have made critical and emerging technologies the pillar of our next-generation partnership to ensure that these technologies promote and protect our values, and remain open, accessible, trusted and secure,” Biden added. All this is important to America, India and the world.

The State Department will also announce plans to open consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, while India will reopen its consulate in Seattle.

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Speaking at the welcoming ceremony, Modi called the Indian diaspora in America, the millions of immigrants and their children from the subcontinent living in the US, the real strength of the US-India relationship. He said the honor of a formal state visit, the first in the US for India since Barack Obama honored Modi’s predecessor, Manmohan Singh, in 2009, reflected the positive impact Indians are having worldwide.

Modi, the son of a tea seller who rose to become India’s prime minister, also recalled visiting the White House as a common man 30 years ago.

I’ve been here many times, but today for the first time the doors of the White House have been opened to the Indian-American community in such large numbers,” Modi told an estimated crowd of 7,000.

Despite the big deals, the visit will be overshadowed by concerns from human rights activists and lawmakers who question Modi’s commitment to democratic principles.

Modi has drawn criticism over legislation amending the country’s citizenship law that speeds up naturalization for some migrants but excludes Muslims, an increase in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindu nationalists, and the recent conviction of India’s top opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi , for mocking Modis’ surname.

In 2005, the US revoked Modi’s visa to the US, citing concerns that he, as chief minister of Gujarat, had failed to act to stop intercommunal violence during 2002 anti-Muslim riots that killed more than 1,000 people came. An investigation approved by India’s Supreme Court later completed Modi, but the taint of the dark moment has lingered.

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A group of more than 70 lawmakers wrote to Biden this week urging him to express concern about the erosion of religious, press and political freedoms during the visit.

Biden and Modi also had differences over Russia’s war in Ukraine. India abstained from voting on UN resolutions condemning Russia and refused to join the global coalition against Russia. Since the start of the war, the Modi government has also dramatically increased its purchases of Russian oil.

White House officials note that there are signs of change in India’s relationship with Russia, which has long been New Delhi’s largest defense supplier.

India is moving away from Russian military equipment and looking more towards the US, Israel, Great Britain and other countries. Modi recently met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

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and has expressed concern about Russia’s possible use of nuclear weapons.

State visits are typically reserved for America’s closest allies, but they have also historically been used as carrots to strengthen relations with countries with which the United States has had complicated relationships.

Modi’s busy schedule on Thursday also includes a speech to Congress and a lavish state dinner at the White House.

Modi, who has not attended a formal

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conference in years, agreed to participate in one with Biden. Typically, state visits include a press conference in which the leaders answer questions from two members of the U.S. press and two members of the visiting press.

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.