ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
At the White House today, President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed a range of issues including climate change. Modi agreed that India would ratify a major international deal as soon as possible. NPR's Brian Naylor reports.
BRIAN NAYLOR, BYLINE: India and the U.S. each signed on to the climate change agreement reached in Paris last December, but neither country has formally ratified the deal which is aimed at slowing the rise in global temperatures. It takes effect once 55 nations responsible for 55 percent of global greenhouse gases have joined it. India is the third-largest emitter of carbon after the U.S. and China. President Obama said the U.S. and India's joining forces helped make the deal possible.
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BARACK OBAMA: The agreements and memoranda that we reached I think reflect the seriousness with which both of us take the climate change issue.
NAYLOR: Obama and Modi have what's been described as a warm relationship. They met this morning at the Oval Office and shared a working lunch. There are developing economic ties between the two countries. India says it intends to buy six nuclear reactors from Westinghouse which the U.S. says would produce thousands of jobs in India and the U.S.
India has yet to finalize the deal, but a joint statement released today says contractual arrangements should be complete by next June. The two leaders also discussed other issues - cyber security and antiterrorism efforts. President Obama said national security was also on the table.
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OBAMA: India and the United States have a shared vision of peace, of democracy, of countries resolving conflicts diplomatically rather than through war.
NAYLOR: The two nations also made progress on a defense logistics accord. The U.S. will share military technology with India and information about the movement of U.S. aircraft carriers in the region. Modi will address a joint meeting of Congress tomorrow. Brian Naylor, NPR News, the White House. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
