Democracies Can Deliver: Biden Praises PM Modi For Handling COVID Pandemic In Democratic Manner; Takes Dig At China

United States President Joe Biden has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for handling the COVID-19 pandemic successfully in a democratic manner.

During a closed session of the Quad Leaders' Summit in Japan's Tokyo, Biden contrasted India's success with China's failure to handle the COVID-19 pandemic while both the country are of comparable size, a senior official was quoted in a ANI report as saying.

The US President added that PM Modi's success in handling the pandemic has shown the world that democracies can deliver, and busted the "myth that autocracies like China and Russia can handle the rapidly changing world better because their leadership can take and implement decisions without going through lengthy democratic processes", the official was quoted as saying in the report.

These remarks from President Biden appeared to be unscripted, according to the official.

The leaders of the Quad nations--Australia, India, Japan, and the United States--met today in Tokyo for the fourth time and the second time in person.

After the Quad Leaders' Summit in Tokyo on Tuesday (24 May), PM Modi held a meeting with US President Biden.

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed wide-ranging issues, covering multiple aspects of India-US ties including trade, investment, defence as well as people-to-people linkages.