WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to increase cooperation between the two countries in defense and technology during their latest official visit to Washington, despite lingering concerns over respect for human rights in India.

The two-day visit, which was carefully prepared with a number of official events, got off to a somewhat bumpy start Wednesday afternoon, with Narendra Modi arriving half an hour late for a visit to the National Science Foundation, forcing “First Lady” Jill Biden to begin without him.

The Indian leader, who apologized for the delay, then headed to the White House for a private dinner with the Bidens, exchanging smiles and laughs in the front yard of the residence before entering the building.

A formal dinner is scheduled for Thursday, at the end of the day which will be marked by Narendra Modi’s address to Congress and, rarely, by his participation in a press conference with Joe Biden.

Narendra Modi has never held a press conference in India since he came to power in 2014, except once in May 2019 – no questions were asked of him.

The United States wants India to be a strategic counterweight to China, while New Delhi aims to increase its influence on the international scene.

Narendra Modi has visited the United States five times since taking the helm of India, but this visit was his first on full diplomatic status.

Fellow Democrats of Joe Biden want him to take advantage of Narendra Modi’s visit to discuss respect for human rights in India, while activists plan to demonstrate and call on the American president to publicly reprimand the Indian Prime Minister on the matter.

Moreover, the two leaders should discuss Russia and Ukraine, at the initiative of Joe Biden, while Washington is frustrated that New Delhi maintains certain economic and defense ties with Moscow despite the war.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to reporters, a senior US official said there had been a “subtle shift” in India’s approach to Russia since Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the current era was “not an era of war”.

(Reporting on Steve Holland, Simon Lewis, Kanishka Singh, Nandita Bose and Jeff Mason; French version of Jean Terzian)

by Nandita Bose, Jeff Mason and Steve Holland