Remarks by President Biden and Prime Minister Modi of the Republic of India in Meeting with Senior Officials and CEOs of Technology Companies

East Room

12:14 P.M. EDT
    
PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Okay.  We — I was just thanking the — anyway, I started off without you, and I sold a lot of state secrets and a lot of very important things that we shared.  (Laughter.)
 
Now, all kidding aside — look, we’re teaming up to design and develop new technologies that are going to transform the lives of our people around the world.  And together, we’re lifting the private and public partners to make this possible, including launching a new program between India and America — American astronauts, Indian astronauts, and entrepreneurs, scientists, students.
 
Simply put, our countries are ta- — taking innovation and cooperation to a new level in our relationship, and thanks in large part to the folks around this table.
 
So my message today is really simple: We’ve got to keep it up, and we have to make sure we aim even higher.
 
We’re — we’re going to see more technol- — technological change — you’ve heard me say this a number of times — in the next 10 years than we saw in the last 50 years — and maybe in the next few years — the last 50 years.  And we need your help — and I’m talking to the CEOs around this table, Indian and American.  We need your help to seize the moment, to help manage the risk to our societies, our economies, and to our nations’ national security.
 
We need your help to build guardrails around emerging technologies so that they’re trustworthy, they’re secure, and uphold our shared value and human rights.
 
We need you to help us expand our partnership into new fields, in biotechnology as well as quantum.
 
You know, as you all know well, innovation and collaboration are rarely without obstacles.  And so, you raise our ambitions, and I want you to let us know what stands in the way of our ambitions as well.  Be straight with us.
 
The speed bumps are — are impeding technological partnership — what they are, when they occur.  So the Prime Minister and I can commit to building around them, over them, and through them.  Because it matters — our cooperation matters — not just to our own people but, I quite frankly think, to the whole world.
 
Because our partnership is about more than the next breakthrough or the next deal and — as big as they may be.
 
It’s about taking climate change — it’s about tackling it.  It’s about exploring the universe.  It’s about lifting people out of poverty; curing cancer and other serious diseases; preventing pandemics; and giving our citizens — all our citizens real opportunity.
 
And about — it’s about forging a more free, secure, and more prosperous future for our children, supporting the dynamism and diversity of our democracies and democracies everywhere.
 
We’re sticking up for our values and the vision of our — vision of the world.
 
And so, our partnership between India and the United States will go a long way, in my view, to define what the 21st century looks like.  And our technology and technological cooperation will be a big part of defining our partnership — our partnership. 
 
So I look forward to continuing working with all of you and — on our voyage of discovery, as was referenced, and to building a better future. 
 
And I want to thank all the CEOs, again, for being here.  And with that, I’m going to turn it over to the Prime Minister to say nice things about me.  (Laughter.)
 
PRIME MINISTER MODI:  (As interpreted.)  President Biden, and all friends here: In a way, saying — sometimes it’s a little difficult to say too much in front of all the press present here. 
 
But first of all, I would like to thank President Biden for participating in this event.  And you have seen that from agriculture to space, there are all the sectors represented here that touch our lives in every way.  And technology is something that touches our lives, and all technology sectors are represented here. 
 
And there are well-established firms here and startups here as well.  And both of them can work to — are working together to create a new world.  And I’m very pleased that under the leadership of President Biden, technology — understanding the importance of technology, the progress that America has made in the area of technology.  And the youth in India, thanks to its talent, has created an identity for itself in the world. 
 
So this coming together of talent and technology, I believe this is definitely a guarantee for a bright future. 
 
This morning, the discussion we’ve had with just a few friends — but this morning is with us — giving us a guarantee for a bright future. 
 
And this is a very small group of people, but this is a very promising group, a wonderful group, and one which is going to give direction to the world, which is going to build the future of the world.
 
And with the resolve for a better future, the vision of President Biden, the aspirations of India, the strength that President Biden has and the possibilities that India represents, we have an opportunity to take this forward. 
 
And therefore, I would like to congratulate my friend, Secretary Raimondo.  She visited India.  She took out a lot of time for India.  And what she herself experienced there and what she brought is taking forward here, and I can never thank President Biden enough.  And I thank you all very much. 
 
PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Well, thank you very much.  Thank you for coming in, folks.  Press — press, leave now.  Thank you. 
 
12:20 P.M. EDT