US, India send message to China with defense, tech deals

President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled defense, business and technology deals Thursday at the White House with the implicit intention of undermining China's global influence and pulling India away from Russia.

"Our discussions today and the important decisions we have taken have added a new chapter to our comprehensive and global strategic partnership," Modi said through a translator at the press conference with Biden.

The countries plan on increasing cooperation in technology fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and space.

The leaders also agreed to allow General Electric to produce jet engines in India for the Asian nation's military.

India had been supplying Russia with weapons, but the deals show how the U.S. has been working to bring it into the Western alliance in support of Ukraine. 

"India is actively engaged in diversifying away from Russian military equipment, some of that will be made clear," a senior Biden administration official said Wednesday, according to The Hill.

The deals come amid mounting tensions with China, and U.S. lawmakers are celebrating India as a key partner in challenging Beijing. 

Neither Biden nor Modi mentioned countering China as the goal of their deals.

When asked at the press conference about how he called Chinese leader Xi Jinping a dictator earlier this week, Biden said he does not think his comments "had any real consequence" on the relationship between the U.S. and China.

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.