Biden Welcomes Leader of World's Most Populous Country

Some 18 years after the State Department denied him a visa to enter the US, Narendra Modi is in the country for a state visit as prime minister of India. Thousands gathered on the White House South Lawn for a welcoming ceremony Thursday, where President Biden praised a "relationship built on mutual trust, candor, and respect," the AP reports. But the state visit—only the third of Biden's presidency—has drawn criticism over human rights concerns under Modi's increasingly authoritarian government, reports CNN. More:

• Biden "won't lecture" Modi. Administration officials say the US-India relationship is of vital importance, especially when it comes to countering China, and while Biden will raise concerns about human rights, he won't lecture the Indian leader, the AP reports. “The question of where politics and the question of democratic institutions go in India is going to be determined within India by Indians. It’s not going to be determined by the United States,” says national security adviser Jake Sullivan. “So what we can do is our part, and our part is to speak out on behalf of universal values.”

• Some lawmakers will boycott Modi's address to Congress. Lawmakers including Democratic Reps. Corinne Bush and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are boycotting Modi's Thursday address to a joint session of Congress. "Prime Minister Modi has a shameful history of committing human rights abuses, undermining democracy, and targeting journalists," Bush tweeted.
• "One of the defining relationships of the 21st century." Sullivan has called the US-India relationship "one of the defining relationships of the 21st century," per CNN. "Fundamentally, we believe that the long-term trajectory of the US-India relationship is built on the notion that two democracies with shared value systems ought to be able to work together," he said ahead of Modi's visit.

• Major deals to be announced. Administration officials say Biden and Modi will announce joint initiatives in telecommunications, artificial intelligence, and other areas, including defense deals, the New York Times reports. Modi is also expected to sign the Artemis Accords on peaceful space exploration. Officials say the administration also aims to bend "the arc of India’s engagement" in Russia's war in Ukraine. India increased its purchases of Russian oil after the war began and has declined to vote for United Nations resolutions condemning Russia.
• No meat on the menu. Around 400 people, including politicians, celebrities, and company CEOs, will be at Thursday night's state dinner. The menu, like Modi, is vegetarian. They will dine on a "salad of marinated millet, corn and compressed watermelon, stuffed Portobello mushrooms and saffron risotto, and a strawberry shortcake infused with rose and cardamom," per the AP.
• That ban from the US. USA Today reports that Modi was banned for the US for nine years, starting in 2005, over concerns that he supported deadly anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat state in 2002. He was the top official in the state at the time. India's Supreme Court later cleared Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP party of involvement and the ban on entry to the US was lifted when he became prime minister.

(More Narendra Modi stories.)