Obama to meet India's PM Modi

This visit will highlight the progress made on climate change and energy partnership, security and defense

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on June 7, press secretary Josh Earnest announced Friday.

The Indian prime minister had previously been invited to address a joint meeting of the US Congress on June 8.

"The visit will highlight the deepening of the US-India relationship in key areas since the president's visit to New Delhi in January 2015," Earnest said in a statement.



"The president looks forward to discussing progress made on our climate change and clean energy partnership, security and defense cooperation, and economic growth priorities."

It would be Modi's second White House visit since September 2014 after his Hindu nationalist party won a sweeping victory at the polls.

Washington has assiduously courted the Indian leader, cultivating a strategic relationship seen as a counterweight to an increasingly assertive China.



Modi was invited to address the US Congress by Republican speaker Paul Ryan, who called the US-Indian relationship "a pillar of stability in a very, very important region."