Biden says he will not back off criticism of China's Xi as he fetes Indian leader

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden maintained his position that Chinese President Xi Jinping is a "dictator" on Thursday as he hosted Indian Premier Narendra Modi at the White House for a ritzy official visit.

Biden's comments stirred a backlash from China, including a formal diplomatic protest on Thursday, as Washington and Beijing seek to mend badly tattered relations.

Asked about his appraisal of Xi during a joint press conference with Modi in the East Room, Biden said it "is just not something I'm going to change very much."

The US president sought to downplay the strains in US-Sino ties, saying Secretary of State Antony Blinken's recent trip to Beijing was "great," and that he expects to be meeting with Xi for a sit-down in the "near term."

The comments come as Biden hosts Modi, an increasingly important US partner amid great power competition with China, for an official two-day state visit that has had no shortage of pomp and circumstance.

Earlier Thursday, Modi was received at the White House with a ceremony that featured the Marine Corps band and thousands of jubilant supporters shouting the Indian leader's name on the South Lawn.

The White House has sought to dismiss any sort of connection to China in Biden's decision to extend an exceedingly rare state visit to Modi, maintaining that the choice was made solely based on the importance of the US-Indian relationship.

Other than Modi, only French President Emanuel Macron and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have received the honor during Biden's over two years in office.

Biden's decision to host Modi for such a prestigious visit has prompted backlash from rights groups, the president's fellow Democrats, and others who have sounded the alarm on what they say is a deterioration of minority rights in India under the premier.

Three progressive Democrats are slated to boycott Modi's joint address to Congress when it takes place later Thursday over the concerns, and over 70 Democrats from both the House of Representatives and the Senate wrote a letter to Biden to discuss the need to protect human rights and democratic values during the Oval Office sit-down.

- 'No space for discrimination'

Modi, for his part, sought to fend off the criticism, saying his government has "always proved that democracy can deliver."

"When I say deliver, this is regardless of caste, creed, religion, gender, there's absolutely no space for discrimination. And when you talk of democracy, if there are no human values, and there is no humanity, there are no human rights, then it's not a democracy," he said in response to a reporter's question.

Biden said he and Modi "had a good discussion about democratic values."

"That's the nature of our relationship. We're straightforward with each other and we respect each other," he said.

"It's a common democratic character in both our countries and our people, our diversity our culture, our open, tolerant, robust debate. And I believe that we believe in the dignity of every citizen, and it is in America's DNA and I believe in India's DNA that the whole world has a stake in our success, both of us, in maintaining our democracies," he said.