All countries should respect international law and the sovereignty of countries. Disputes should be resolved with “diplomacy and dialogue,” not war, he noted. “Some people say that we are neutral. But we are not neutral. We are on the side of peace,” he was quoted as saying. “The world has full confidence that India`s topmost priority is peace,” the Prime Minister said in the interview.

India-US Ties Stronger, Deeper: PM Modi

PM Modi also stressed that the ties between India and the US are stronger and deeper than ever and there is unprecedented trust between the leaders of both nations. The Prime Minister added that India deserves a much higher, deeper and wider profile and role on the world stage at a moment of geopolitical turmoil.

“We do not see India as supplanting any country. We see this process as India gaining its rightful position in the world,” Prime Minister Modi was quoted as saying in the interview. The world today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. To create resilience, there should be more diversification in supply chains, he said.

On UNSC Membership

Touching upon the UN Security Council member, PM Modi said that there has to be an evaluation of the current membership of the council and the world should be asked if it wants India to be there. India will do whatever it can and supports all genuine efforts to bring an end to the conflict and ensure enduring peace and stability, the Prime Minister added. For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential, he said.

On Trade Ties

In his interview, the Prime Minister said growing defence cooperation between the two countries was “an important pillar of our partnership” that extended to trade, technology, and energy.

On China

PM Modi also responded to questions about China, amid border tensions that have frequently flared up in recent years. “For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential,” said PM Modi.

PM Modi said in the course of the interview that he is the first prime minister to be born in free India, “And that`s why my thought process, my conduct, what I say and do, is inspired and influenced by my country`s attributes and traditions. I derive my strength from it”. “I present my country to the world as my country is, and myself, as I am,” he said. 

PM Modi Leaves For US

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, emplaned for the United States for his first historic State visit. The visit will commence in New York where the Prime Minister will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations Headquarters on June 21.

PM Modi will then travel to Washington DC, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22 and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a State Dinner in honour of the Prime Minister the same evening, according to a release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PM will also address a Joint Sitting of the US Congress on June 22.

The invitation to deliver such a historic speech was extended by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, demonstrating bipartisan support and respect for Prime Minister Modi in the United States. He would be the first Indian Prime Minister to address a joint session of the United States Congress twice. The invitation letter from the President and First Lady praised PM Modi’s last historic address seven years ago, which helped cement the connection between the two countries.

An unprecedented deal on jet engine technology transfer to power advanced light combat aircraft and the purchase of high-altitude armed predator drones from the US is expected during the visit.

Source: IANS

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“In terms of focus areas of discussions, it would perhaps be a very forward leaning visit,” said one of the people cited above.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday formally announced Modi’s two-nation state visit to the US and Egypt from June 20 to 25. Following Modi’s talks with US President Joe Biden, the two sides are expected to firm up a number of arrangements and deals, including one for India’s procurement of 30 armed drones.

Both the leaders are also likely to deliberate on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the situation in the Indo-Pacific, China’s aggressive behaviour in the region and other pressing regional and global issues of mutual interests. Modi’s visit to the US will commence in New York, where he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the headquarters of the United Nations on June 21.

From New York, he will travel to Washington where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22, and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a state dinner in honour of Modi the same evening.

From New York, he will travel to Washington where he will receive a ceremonial welcome at the White House on June 22, and meet President Biden to continue their high-level dialogue. Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host a state dinner in honour of Modi the same evening.

He will also meet members of the Indian diaspora. The people cited above said Modi’s visit will be “high on substance”.
“Even the symbolism would also be very highly substantive in terms of the political messaging,” said one of them, adding there is a “deep, genuine, strong and widespread interest” on the visit by both sides.

In the second leg of his two-nation visit, Modi will travel to Cairo to pay a state visit to Egypt from June 24 to 25.
The visit is at the invitation of Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the President of Egypt, which he extended to Modi in January when he graced India’s Republic Day celebrations as the ‘Chief Guest’. This will be Modi’s first visit to Egypt as prime minister.

“Apart from his talks with President Sisi, the prime minister is likely to interact with senior dignitaries from the Egyptian government, some prominent Egyptian personalities, as well as the Indian community in Egypt,” the MEA said. “Relations between India and Egypt are based on ancient trade and economic linkages as well as cultural and deep-rooted people-to-people ties,” it said.

During the state visit of Sisi to India in January, it was agreed to elevate the relationship between the two countries to a strategic partnership.

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At the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the United States from June 21 to June 24. Indian diaspora in the US is also eagerly awaiting PM Modi’s arrival. On June 22, more than 7000 Indian Americans are planning to be on the South Lawns of the White House when US President Biden and the First Lady would welcome PM Modi amidst a 21-gun salute.

In the US, PM Modi will also address the chairman and CEOs of top US companies at John F Kennedy Centre in Washington. During his visit, PM Modi will address a joint session of the United States Congress on June 22. The invitation to deliver such a historic speech was extended by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, demonstrating bipartisan support and respect for Prime Minister Modi in the United States. He would be the first Indian PM to address a joint session of the US Congress twice.

The invitation letter from the President and First Lady praised PM Modi’s last historic address seven years ago, which helped cement the connection between the two countries. The White House emphasised in its message that it was an occasion to reaffirm the two countries’ deep and close alliance. PM Modi expressed his thanks for the privilege and stated that he was looking forward to addressing the joint session. In his message, PM Modi reiterated the pride in having a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership with the US founded on the principles of democratic values, close people-to-people ties and a staunch commitment to global peace and prosperity.

“We are here almost literally, on the eve of what we believe will be a historic state visit by Prime Minister Modi, one that will further solidify what President Biden has called the defining relationship of the 21st century,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He said that US sees this (India-US) defining relationship as a unique connection between the world’s oldest and largest democracies, with a special obligation now to demonstrate that these two governments can deliver for & empower all of its citizens.

Hailing the ties between the two countries, Blinken said, “Last year, as you all know, trade between our nations reached a record $191 billion dollars, making the US the largest trading partner for India. American companies have now invested at least $54 billion in India. In US, Indian companies have invested over $40 billion in IT, pharmaceuticals and more, supporting 425,000 jobs from California to Georgia.”

Source: ANI

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Approval in the Senate on a bipartisan vote, 63-36, reflected the overwhelming House tally the day before, relying on centrists in both parties to pull the Biden-McCarthy package to passage. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill’s passage means “America can breathe a sigh of relief.” He said, “We are avoiding default.”

Fast action was vital if Washington hoped to meet next Monday’s deadline, when Treasury has said the U.S. will start running short of cash to pay its bills, risking a devastating default. Raising the nation’s debt limit, now $31.4 trillion, would ensure Treasury could borrow to pay already incurred U.S. debts.

In the end, the debt ceiling showdown was a familiar high-stakes battle in Congress, a fight taken on by McCarthy and powered by a hard-right House Republican majority confronting the Democratic president with a new era of divided government in Washington.

Refusing a once routine vote to allow a the nation’s debt limit to be lifted without concessions, McCarthy brought Biden’s White House to the negotiating table to strike an agreement that forces spending cutbacks aimed at curbing the nation’s deficits.

Overall, the 99-page bill restricts spending for the next two years, suspends the debt ceiling into January 2025 and changes some policies, including imposing new work requirements for older Americans receiving food aid and greenlighting an Appalachian natural gas line that many Democrats oppose.

It bolsters funds for defense and veterans, cuts back new money for Internal Revenue Service agents and rejects Biden’s call to roll back Trump-era tax breaks on corporations and the wealthy to help cover the nation’s deficits. It imposes automatic 1% cuts if Congress fails approve its annual spending bills.

After the House overwhelmingly approved the package late Wednesday, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell signaled he too wanted to waste no time ensuring it became law. Touting its budget cuts, McConnell said Thursday, “The Senate has a chance to make that important progress a reality.”

Having remained largely on the sidelines during much of the Biden-McCarthy negotiations, several senators insisted on debate over their ideas to reshape the package. But making any changes at this stage would almost certainly derail the compromise and none were approved.

Instead, senators dragged through rounds of voting late into the night rejecting the various amendments, but making their preferences clear. Conservative Republican senators wanted to include further cut spending, while Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia sought to remove the Mountain Valley Pipeline approval.

The energy pipeline is important to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and he defended the development running through his state, saying the country cannot run without the power of gas, coal, wind and all available energy sources.

But, offering an amendment to strip the pipeline from the package, Kaine argued it would not be fair for Congress to step into a controversial project that he said would also course through his state and scoop up lands in Appalachia that have been in families for generations.

Defense hawks led by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina complained strongly that military spending, though boosted in the deal, was not enough to keep pace with inflation — particularly as they eye supplemental spending that will be needed this summer to support Ukraine against the war waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Putin’s invasion is a defining moment of the 21st century,” Graham argued from the Senate floor. “What the House did is wrong.”

They secured an agreement from Schumer, which he read on the floor, stating that the debt ceiling deal “does nothing” to limit the Senate’s ability to approve other emergency supplemental funds for national security, including for Ukraine, or for disaster relief and other issues of national importance.

For weeks negotiators labored late into the night to strike the deal with the White House, and for days McCarthy had worked to build support among skeptics.

Tensions had run high in the House the night before as hard-right Republicans refused the deal. Ominously, the conservatives warned of possibly trying to oust McCarthy over the issue.

But Biden and McCarthy assembled a bipartisan coalition, with Democrats ensuring passage on a robust 314-117 vote. All told, 71 House Republicans broke with McCarthy to reject the deal.

“We did pretty dang good,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said afterward.

As for discontent from Republicans who said the spending restrictions did not go far enough, McCarthy said it was only a “first step.”

The White House immediately turned its attention to the Senate, its top staff phoning individual senators.

Democrats also had complaints, decrying the new work requirements for older Americans, those 50-54, in the food aid program, the changes to the landmark National Environmental Policy Act and approval of the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline natural gas project they argue is unhelpful in fighting climate change.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the spending restrictions in the package would reduce deficits by $1.5 trillion over the decade, a top goal for the Republicans trying to curb the debt load.

In a surprise that complicated Republicans’ support, however, the CBO said their drive to impose work requirements on older Americans receiving food stamps would end up boosting spending by $2.1 billion over the time period. That’s because the final deal exempts veterans and homeless people, expanding the food stamp rolls by 78,000 people monthly, the CBO said.

Source: AP

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Onlookers, including some members of the official delegation onstage, watched in concern before Biden, who at age 80 is the oldest president in US history, returned to his seat to view the end of the ceremony. “I got sandbagged,” the president told reporters with a smile when he arrived back at the White House on Thursday evening before pretending to jog into the residence. Two small black sandbags had been onstage supporting the teleprompter used by Biden and other speakers at the graduation.

“He’s fine,” White House communications director Ben LaBolt tweeted after the incident. “There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands.” Biden has been dogged by questions about his age and his fitness to serve, and his missteps have become fodder for political rivals as he campaigns for a second term in 2024. He has stumbled before going up the stairs and onto Air Force One and he once got caught up in his bike pedals while stopping to talk to reporters near his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Biden’s personal doctor said after the president’s most recent physical exam in February that Biden “remains a healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.” Dr Kevin O’Connor also documented the president’s stiffened gait, which O’Connor said was the result of spinal arthritis, a previously broken foot and neuropathy in the Biden’s feet.

Biden is far from the first national political figure to stumble in public. President Gerald Ford fell down while walking off Air Force One in 1975. GOP Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, the GOP presidential nominee at the time, fell off the stage at a campaign rally in 1996. President Barack Obama tripped walking up the stairs to a stage at a 2012 event. “I was so fired up, I missed a stair” he told the crowd.

President Donald Trump’s gingerly walk down a ramp at the 2020 West Point commencement also sparked concerns about his health. Trump, 76, was campaigning in Iowa when he heard about Biden’s stumble and alluded to his own episode. “He actually fell down. Well I hope he wasn’t hurt,” Trump said after an audience member told him about what had happened to Biden.”The whole thing is crazy. You gotta be careful about that … ’cause you don’t want that, even if you have to tiptoe down a ramp.”

The audience laughed as Trump recounted slowly inching his way down what he said had been a slippery ramp at the US Military Academy graduation. “If he fell, it’s too bad,” the former president said. “We gotta just get this thing back on track. That’s a bad place to fall when you’re making, I think it was the Air Force Academy, right? That’s not inspiring.”

Meanwhile, GOP presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used the opportunity to take a political shot at Biden while at a campaign event in New Hampshire. “We hope and wish Joe Biden a swift recovery from any injuries he may have sustained,” he said, “but we also wish the United States of America a swift recovery from the injuries it has sustained because of Joe Biden and his policies.

Source: PTI

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The legislation adds to Republican criticism of the plan, which was halted in November in response to lawsuits from conservative opponents. The Supreme Court heard arguments in February in a challenge to Biden’s move, with the conservative majority seemingly ready to sink the plan. A decision is expected in the coming weeks.

“The president’s student loan schemes do not forgive’ debt, they just shift the burden from those who chose to take out loans onto those who never went to college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans,” said Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, lead sponsor of the Senate push.

The legislation aims to revoke Biden’s cancellation plan and curtail the Education Department’s ability to cancel student loans in the future. It would rescind Biden’s latest extension of a payment pause that began early in the pandemic. It would retroactively add several months of student loan interest that was waived by Biden’s extension.

It would also roll back months of progress borrowers made toward loan cancellation through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Those who recently had their debt cancelled through the program would have their loans reinstated.

The GOP challenge invoked the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to undo recently enacted executive branch regulations. Passing a resolution requires a simple majority in both chambers, but overriding a presidential veto requires two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate, and Republicans aren’t expected to have enough support to do that.

“If Republicans were to get their way and pass this bill into law, people across the country would have relief they are counting on snatched away from them,? said Sen.

Source: PTI

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