Modi praises US ties in address to Congress during visit

India's Prime Minister receives rousing welcome from members of US Congress

Mr Modi addressed a packed chamber. Bloomberg

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave an hour-long address to Congress on Thursday, hailing US-India friendship as well as democracy and diversity.

Members of Congress lined the aisles to cheer and shake hands with the Prime Minister, with some even chanting his name as he walked towards the podium.

“I agree with President [Joe] Biden that this is a defining partnership of this century,” Mr Modi told the joint session of Congress.

“Because it serves a larger purpose. Democracy, demography and destiny give us that purpose.

“The foundation of America was inspired by the vision of a nation of equal people.

“Throughout your history, you embraced people from around the world and you have made them equal partners in the American dream.”

He gave a nod to Vice President Kamala Harris, whose mother is Indian.

“There are millions here – you have groups from India, some of them sit proudly in this chamber and there is one behind me,” he said, indicating Ms Harris.

Mr Narendra arrived in Washington on Wednesday for a state visit that has featured major defence and technology deals, as the US aims to foster relations with New Delhi as a counterweight to China's expanding influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Biden administration officials say welcoming Mr Modi, the leader of the conservative Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, is vital to US interests.

Washington is hoping to steer India away from ties with Russia, which includes purchasing crude oil that Moscow has been using to help fund its war in Ukraine.

“The dark clouds of coercion and confrontation are casting their shadow in the Indo-Pacific,” Mr Modi said.

“We share a vision of a free open and inclusive Indo Pacific.”

His speech was met with a standing ovation.

But Muslim-American rights groups and several progressive US politicians have blasted the Biden administration's willingness to overlook Mr Modi's record on human rights in India, the world's most populous country.

Earlier on Thursday, during a joint news conference with Mr Biden, he was pressed by a reporter over his party's treatment of minorities – a rare occurrence for Mr Modi, who has avoided open questions and unscripted situations.

“In India's democratic values, there's absolutely no discrimination, neither on the basis of caste, creed or age or any kind of geographic location,” he said.

“There is absolutely no space for discrimination.”

Mr Modi's two-day official US visit includes a formal White House reception on Thursday evening, when he will be treated to a vegetarian state dinner.

Narendra Modi visits the US - in pictures