Washington: US President Joe Biden on Friday shared a couple of banters with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when they met at the White House for their first in-person bilateral meeting and said that the Indian press is "much better behaved" than the American press.

Prime Minister Modi, who is visiting the US for the 7th time after assuming office in 2014, was received by President Biden at the White House.

Soon after Biden and PM Modi greeted each other, the US President led PM Modi to the chairs in the Oval Office where they were scheduled to sit and hold talks in front of the media.

As the two leaders took their respective seats, Biden said: “I think what they're going to do is bring in the press. The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press. And I think, with your permission, we should not answer questions because they won't ask any questions on point”.

PM Modi then replied, saying he completely agreed with him as they began their talks.

While the two leaders have met earlier when Biden was the Vice President of the country, this is for the first time that Biden is meeting PM Modi after he became the 46th president of the US in January.

Both Biden and Prime Minister Modi have spoken over the phone multiple times and have attended a few virtual summits, including that of the Quad in March hosted by the US president. The last telephone conversation between them took place on April 26.

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New Delhi (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will make a statement in the Lok Sabha regarding the situation in West Asia on Monday.

The second half of the Budget session of Parliament will begin on Monday.

According to the revised list of business of the Lok Sabha for March 9 circulated on Sunday evening, "Dr S Jaishankar to make a statement regarding the situation in West Asia."

Till Saturday, the opposition-backed resolution seeking removal of Om Birla as the Lok Sabha speaker was the only listed official agenda for Monday.

The opposition has demanded a discussion on the situation in West Asia in the House.

India is continuously monitoring the evolving situation in West Asia, especially in the context of the safety of its citizens stranded in the region.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said more than 52,000 Indians have returned to the country following the partial opening of the airspace across the region.

The security situation in West Asia remains precarious as the US and Israel continue their bombardment of Iranian targets while Tehran retaliates with strikes against Israeli positions and US military bases across the region.