Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held talks with US President Barack Obama on “substantive” bilateral, regional and international issues including defence, security, trade and situation in West Asia in view of threat by Islamic State militants.
Modi drove straight from Blair House to the famous West Wing of the White House to hold talks with Obama, first in restrictive format followed by delegation level.
This is the second meeting between Modi and Obama, who hosted a private dinner for the Indian Prime Minister on his arrival from New York.
While Modi was accompanied by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Ambassador S Jaishankar and other senior officials of the MEA and PMO while Obama was assisted by Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal.
Yesterday, Modi and Obama had met in an informal setting in Blue Room of the White House and shared their experiences after taking over as Prime Minister and the President respectively apart from discussing areas of cooperation in combating Ebola virus and the situation in war-torn Afghanistan.