For both Obama and Modi, robust relations with the other country are viewed as a key element in efforts to address an increasingly assertive China. Both leaders want to avoid giving the impression of undertaking an effort to contain China.
Earlier this month Modi hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for what was dubbed the “handshake across the Himalayas,” and that summit – like this week’s US-India meetings – had an economic focus, with Modi encouraging a new wave of Chinese investment in India.
But the Modi-Xi summit also had an undercurrent of regional security jitters. Not only were the warm handshakes marred by reports of Chinese incursions along a stretch of disputed border in the Himalayas, but Chinese media used the summit to recall comments Modi made during a summit in Japan with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Modi called on the two Asian democracies to stand up to rising and increasingly aggressive undemocratic powers in the region – remarks widely interpreted as targeting China.
In Washington, Modi will be looking for ways to strengthen US-India security ties.
