WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden rolled out the White House red carpet for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday as part of his effort to jump-start a stronger US-India relationship and counter China’s global influence with a series of defence and trade agreements.

Mr Biden treated Mr Modi to a colourful White House South Lawn arrival ceremony before some 7,000 people in the morning, followed by Oval Office talks and a glittering state dinner in the evening. The two leaders had a private, intimate dinner at the White House on Wednesday night.

“The challenges and opportunities facing the world in this century require that India and the United States work and lead together, and we are,” Mr Biden said.

Mr Modi said the visit honoured the people of his country and the entire Indian diaspora.

“This grand welcome ceremony at the White House today is an honour and pride for the 1.4 billion people of India,” he said, speaking partly in English and partly in Hindi. “This is also an honour for more than four million people of Indian origin living in the US. For this honour, I express my heartfelt gratitude.”

Mr Biden on Thursday called religious freedom a “core principle” for India and the US, in a gentle nudge as he welcomed the Hindu nationalist prime minister.

But both men overwhelmingly stressed the positive, with the two democracies seeing challenges in trade and defence from a rising China.

“I have long believed that the relationship between the US and India will be one of the most defining relationships of the 21st century,” Mr Biden said.

In a rare gesture, Mr Modi agreed to take questions from reporters with Mr Biden at the White House on Thursday. The Indian leader had not conducted a news conference since becoming prime minister nine years ago.

Mr Modi said that both India and the US had societies “based on democratic values”.

“Both of our countries take pride in their diversity,” he said. “Both of us believe in the fundamental principle of ‘in the interest of all’, ’for the welfare of all’. The two countries are committed to work together for the global good and for global peace, stability and prosperity.”

The festival-like opening ceremony featured violinist Vibha Janakiraman and a cappella group Penn Masala performing renditions of songs by American group Maroon 5, as well as from movies by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

Washington wants India to be a strategic counterweight to China and sees the US-India partnership as critical. Mr Modi is seeking to raise the influence that India, the world’s most populous country at 1.4 billion, has on the world stage in the wake of strained ties with neighbouring China.

Senior Biden administration officials said the sweeping agreements to be announced on semiconductors, critical minerals, technology, space cooperation and defence cooperation and sales will ring in a new era in relations between the two countries.

Some of the deals are aimed at diversifying supply chains to reduce dependence on China.

The US has also sought to address China’s rising influence in the Indo-Pacific region by bolstering defence ties with countries like India and Australia.

The two leaders will sign off on what one official called a “trailblazing” deal to allow General Electric (GE) to produce jet engines in India to power Indian military aircraft. GE said on Thursday it signed a memorandum of understanding with Hindustan Aeronautics to produce the engines.

In addition, US Navy ships in the region will be able to stop in Indian shipyards for repairs under a maritime agreement reached between the two governments.

The leaders will also announce India’s plan to procure US-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, US officials said. “We have now entered really a ‘next generation’ defence partnership,” said one US official.

The agreements will include US chipmaker Micron Technology’s US$2.7 billion (S$3.6 billion) plan for a new semiconductor testing and packaging unit, to be built in Mr Modi’s home state of Gujarat. The US will also make it easier for skilled Indian workers to get and renew US visas.

AOC, Muslim Congress members to boycott

The flurry of deals and agreements comes as activists and some lawmakers have raised serious concerns about democratic backsliding in India.

Mr Biden is under pressure from his fellow Democrats to discuss human rights with Mr Modi. Three progressive Democrats, US Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, have said they would boycott Mr Modi’s address to Congress on Thursday.

“I encourage my colleagues who stand for pluralism, tolerance and freedom of the press to join me in doing the same,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Wednesday.

Mr Biden will bring up concerns about press freedoms, religious freedoms and other issues in a respectful way without “hectoring, lecturing or scolding”, one US official who briefed reporters said.

Rights advocates, who plan to protest during Mr Modi’s visit, on Wednesday said Mr Biden should publicly call out Mr Modi’s rights record, saying the approach of US administrations of raising issues in private with the Indian leader has not stemmed what they described as deteriorating human rights in India.

Mr Modi has been to the US five times since becoming prime minister in 2014, but the trip will be his first with the full diplomatic status of a state visit.

He will address US chief executives at a Friday reception, as American companies plan new investments in India.

On Tuesday, in New York, he met Tesla chief Elon Musk, who said afterwards he plans to make the vehicles available in India as soon as possible.

Mr Musk said Mr Modi was pushing the carmaker to make a “significant investment” in the country, adding that such an announcement was expected soon. REUTERS