WSJ: “U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrives in New Delhi Monday for a visit focused on improving business ties between the two nations.
Mr. Biden, 70, begins his four-day India tour with a trip to Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi, a museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, who led India to independence from Britain in 1947. The Democratic Party politician, who is visiting India with his wife, is also expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, among other leaders, before travelling to Mumbai. Mr. Biden last visited India in 2008, when he was a member of the American Senate.
Mr. Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, will visit the Taj Mahal in Agra and is expected to address school children in Mumbai.
Relations between Washington and New Delhi have been warming in recent years, with the U.S. viewing India as an emerging superpower that can serve as a counterbalance to China’s growing influence in South Asia.
In a speech at the George Washington University in the U.S. on Friday, Mr. Biden singled out civil-nuclear cooperation, trade and investment as key issues the U.S. sought to collaborate on with India in the coming years. “There’s a lot of work to do,” Mr. Biden said in his speech, referring to strengthening India-U.S. ties. He also welcomed India’s decision this week to ease overseas-investment rules for telecom, defense and insurance.”
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