US President Joe Biden meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi shortly after arriving in New Delhi on September 8. (Source: PMO)

The Prime Minister's Office shared photographs of the two leaders discussing "a range of issues that will deepen the relationship between India and the US".

According to NDTV , US President Joe Biden's Air Force 1 landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport at around 7pm. Unusually, the press was not allowed to cover the meeting between the host country's Prime Minister and the American guest, according to Bloomberg . White House officials said they had lobbied the Indian government to allow press access but were denied.

NDTV previously reported that the two leaders may discuss a number of issues, including a deal on fighter jet engines, procurement of predatory drones and cooperation on key technologies such as 5G and 6G networks. They may also discuss a major rail deal, but US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan did not confirm this.

However, he affirmed that this is an initiative that the US is investing in and “believes that the connection from India – through the Middle East – to Europe is extremely important and will bring significant economic and strategic benefits to all countries involved”.

The meeting between the two leaders was not attended by the press. (Source: PMO)

That same morning, before leaving for India, President Biden posted on social network X (formerly Twitter): “Every time we (G20) interact, we get better.”

The leader of the world's largest economy "is heading to the G20 - the premier forum for international economic cooperation... focused on making progress on American priorities, delivering benefits to developing nations, and demonstrating our commitment to the G20."

According to the White House announcement, President Joe Biden wants to demonstrate that Washington can bring benefits to the world at this G20 Summit in New Delhi, when both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin are absent.

In addition to holding talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the US leader will also meet with other leaders on the sidelines of the conference.

In addition to Mr. Biden, many other leaders arrived in New Delhi tonight, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau...