Washington: US President Joe Biden Friday shared a couple of banters with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when they met at the White House for their first in-person bilateral meeting and said that the Indian press is “much better behaved” than the American press.
Prime Minister Modi, who is visiting the US for the 7th time after assuming office in 2014, was received by President Biden at the White House.
Soon after Biden and Modi greeted each other, the US President led Modi to the chairs in the Oval Office where they were scheduled to sit and hold talks in front of the media.
As the two leaders took their respective seats, Biden said: “I think what they’re going to do is bring in the press. The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press…
“And I think, with your permission, we should not answer questions because they won’t ask any questions on point”.
Modi then replied, saying he completely agreed with him as they began their talks.
While the two leaders have met earlier when Biden was the Vice President of the country, this is for the first time that Biden is meeting Modi after he became the 46th president of the US in January.
Both Biden and Prime Minister Modi have spoken over the phone multiple times and have attended a few virtual summits, including that of the Quad in March hosted by the US president. The last telephone conversation between them took place April 26.
PTI