Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Thursday, where he, in agreement with U.S. President Joe Biden, called the India-U.S. relationship “a defining partnership” of the 21st century. The Prime Minister also talked about the virtues of democracy, the ties that bind India and the United States and India’s economic and development trajectory. He also touched on issues of global concern, such as the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Indo-Pacific.
Mr. Modi’s hour-long speech was heard by a packed chamber and he received several standing ovations, but over 70 members of Congress had raised concerns about democratic backsliding in India ahead of his address. A handful of lawmakers decided to boycott the event.
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“Democracy is one of our sacred and shared values,” the Prime Minister said as he referred to India as the “mother of democracy”.
“I am here to speak about our calling for this century,” he said, characterising as an “exceptional privilege” the opportunity to address Congress twice (his first address was in June 2016).
He talked about the digitisation of the Indian economy and said that India would soon be the third largest economy in the world.
“ When India grows, the world grows,” Mr. Modi said, as he depicted India’s development as being led by women and a blend of ancient values and modern capabilities, such as in technology.
“Be it creative reels on Insta or real time payments, coding or quantum computing... the youth of India are a great example of how a society can embrace latest technology,” the Prime Minister said.
“We celebrated a remarkable journey of over 75 years of freedom, after a thousand years of foreign rule in one form or another,” Mr. Modi said. (This is apparently a reference to both British rule and Mughal rule. The BJP has previously alluded to the Mughals as being essentially foreign).
He also spoke about India’s environmental commitments, linking it to India’s culture.
On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Modi said the world order was based on respect for the United Nations Charter, sovereignty and territorial integrity and the peaceful resolution of disputes.
“War has returned to Europe. It is causing great pain in the region,” he said, adding that the countries of the so-called Global South were particularly impacted.
“As I have said directly and publicly, this is not an era of war. But, it is one of dialogue and diplomacy,” Mr. Modi said. “And, we all must do what we can to stop the bloodshed and human suffering,” he added.
Indo-Pacific issues
“Mister Speaker, the dark clouds of coercion and confrontation are casting their shadow in the Indo-Pacific,” Mr Modi said, in an apparent reference to Chinese assertiveness in the region.
He reiterated India’s vision for a “free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific” and he reaffirmed the importance of ASEAN countries in that vision. There were other veiled references – such as to China’s debt traps and situations where geography is being used for strategic purposes – a likely reference to Pakistan.
Mr. Modi called the Quad (India, Australia, the U.S. and Japan) a “major force for good” in the Indo-Pacific.
“I will be boycotting Prime Minister Modi’s address to Congress tomorrow, and I encourage my colleagues who stand for pluralism, tolerance, and freedom of the press to join me in doing the same,” Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, an influential Democratic Congresswoman from New York, tweeted on the eve of Mr. Modi’s address.
