Modi, Biden pledge to deepen India-U.S. partnership as world leaders descend on Delhi for G20 summit
Indian artist Jagjot Singh Rubal gives final touches to an oil painting of U.S. President Joe Biden, at his workshop in Amritsar on September 5, 2023, ahead of the two-day G20 summit in New Delhi.
Narinder Nanu | Afp | Getty Images
NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden pledged Friday to deepen the partnership between their countries in their second bilateral meeting in less than six months, as Delhi prepares to host a meeting among leaders of the Group of 20 leading industrialized and developing countries.
The two leaders met shortly at Modi’s official residence after Biden’s arrival in Delhi and then issued a 29-point statement that highlighted the depth and breath of their relationship at a time of evolving global alliances — from building resilient strategic technology value chains and linking defense industrial ecosystems, to collaborating on renewable and nuclear energy, climate financing and cancer research.
The two leaders “reaffirmed the importance of the Quad in supporting a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific” and “expressed their appreciation for the substantial progress underway to implement the ground breaking achievements of Prime Minister Modi’s historic June 2023 visit to Washington.” The Quad is an informal security alignment of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S., which came about in response to China’s rising strength in the Indo-Pacific region.
This closed-door meeting with Biden was the third — after meetings with leaders from Mauritius and Bangladesh — that Modi convened on the eve of the G20 leaders’ summit and part of the dozen or so bilateral meetings planned for this weekend, underscoring India’s strategic ambitions as a key global player connecting the developed world and the Global South.
The summit is an important one for Modi, whose government has turned the normally sedate rotating G20 presidency into a branding vehicle to burnish India’s geopolitical importance ahead of national elections next year. Many governments, investors and businesses are also starting to look toward India — as China slows — which the International Monetary Fund expects to be the fastest growing economy this year.
Weekend consensus
This weekend’s agenda includes the expected admission of the African Union as an official G20 member as part of India’s broad focus on elevating the place of the Global South and fostering inclusive and sustainable growth in the multilateral forum founded in 1999 as a platform to address issues afflicting the global economy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and China President Xi Jinping though won’t be in attendance this weekend.
While Putin is sending Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to take his place, China Premier Li Qiang will take Xi’s place — the first time Xi is skipping the G20 meeting in the decade since he became president.
Putin has not traveled outside of Russia since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest for war crimes in Ukraine.
The pair’s absence has sparked fears that a communique binding member states may not be issued at the end of a G20 leaders’ summit — undercutting India’s clout and diminishing his domestic messaging.
India’s diplomats have been unable to foster binding agreements in the key discussion tracks since it assumed the rotating presidency in December 2022 — because Russia and China have objected to the wording referring to the war in Ukraine.
A war of words has ensued ahead of this weekend’s meeting.
“The G7 countries (primarily the US, the UK, Germany, and France) have been exerting pressure on India in a bid to have their unilateral approaches to the Ukraine situation reflected in the final documents of G20 forums,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
At a pre-summit press conference Friday, India’s G20 sherpa Amitabh Kant said the final declaration “is almost ready.”
“I can assure you our presidency has been inclusive, decisive and action-oriented,” Kant said.
Alternative to China
With Putin and Xi conspicuously absent this weekend, India and the U.S. will hope this will be sufficient to persuade member states and other observers from the Global South they represent a more viable proposition from food security to debt resolution.
In their joint statement after their Friday bilateral meeting, Biden and Modi “reaffirmed their commitment to the G20.”
They also “expressed confidence that the outcomes of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi will advance the shared goals of accelerating sustainable development, bolstering multilateral cooperation, and building global consensus around inclusive economic policies to address our greatest common challenges, including fundamentally reshaping and scaling up multilateral development banks.”
While Putin has an obvious reason accounting for his absence, Xi, though, has not indicated a reason — triggering speculation the Chinese leader may be snubbing Modi for a variety of reasons.
Despite recently traveling to South Africa for a BRICS meeting, Xi has rarely traveled abroad. Instead, he has tended to receive visiting dignitaries in Beijing — including Zambia and Venezuela in overlapping visits this weekend.
India’s warming ties with the U.S. also sharply contrasts against its standoff with its neighbor, China.
India — along with Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan — sharply rebuked China last week for a new national map that Beijing claims contested territories as its own.
India also stands to gain from American companies looking to diversify their supply chains — at China’s expense — as the U.S. ramps up efforts to limit the transfers of strategic technology to China on the grounds of national security.
This would likely be what Modi and Biden conceived as “their ambitious vision for an enduring India-U.S. partnership that advances the aspirations of our people for a bright and prosperous future, serves the global good, and contributes to a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific.”
In the US in 2024, wind and solar accounted for 17% of total electricity generation, surpassing coal, which fell to a record low of 15%, according to a new report from global energy think tank Ember.
Since US coal power peaked in 2007, wind and solar have overtaken coal in 24 states, with Illinois the latest to join the ranks in 2024, following Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Maryland in 2023, the report finds. It’s the first analysis of full-year US electricity data, which was published by the EIA on February 26.
After being stagnant for 14 years, electricity demand started rising in recent years and saw a 3% increase in 2024, marking the fifth-highest level of rise this century. The increase in demand and fall in coal was met with higher solar, wind, and gas generation. Natural gas grew three times more than the decline in coal, increasing power sector CO2 emissions slightly (0.7%). Coal fell by the second smallest amount since 2014, as gas and clean energy growth met rising electricity demand, whereas historically, they have replaced coal.
Despite growing emissions, the carbon intensity of electricity continued to decline. The rise in power demand was much faster than the rise in power sector CO2 emissions, making each unit of electricity likely the cleanest it has ever been.
Solar grew faster than natural gas
Solar generation rose by 64 TWh in 2024, compared to natural gas, which rose 59 TWh. It remained the fastest-growing source of electricity, with its generation rising by 27% in 2024, surpassing hydropower generation for the time. It made up 81% of all new annual power capacity additions in the US. Gas added no net capacity, as new plants were offset with closures.
California and Nevada both surpassed 30% annual share of solar in their electricity mix for the first time (32% and 30%, respectively). California’s battery growth was key to its solar success. It installed 20% more battery capacity than it did solar capacity, which helped it transfer a significant share of its daytime solar to the evening. Texas installed more solar (7.4 GW) and battery capacity (3.9 GW) than even California. Yet the growth of solar was uneven – 28 states generated less than 5% of their electricity from solar in 2024, highlighting significant untapped potential – even before adding battery storage.
As solar grew massively, wind saw a modest 7% increase in generation, adding the least capacity in 10 years. However, it still generated 50% more power than solar in 2024, making 10% of the US electricity mix.
Solar and wind can meet rising demand
With the adoption of EVs, air conditioning, heat pumps, and rapid expansion of data centers, demand for electricity is guaranteed to grow in the coming years.
To meet the rise in demand, clean generation needs to grow faster. Unlike solar, wind’s growth has been slow. Clean energy is able to meet rising electricity demand alone – without raising bills, sacrificing security of supply, or further relying on gas.
“As the demand remained unchanged for years, solar, wind, and gas together worked to replace coal, transforming the US electricity system,” Dave Jones, chief analyst at Ember, said. “But now that electricity demand is rising fast, the battle is between solar and gas to meet this. And solar is winning – it added more generation than gas in 2024, and batteries will ensure that solar can grow more cheaply and quickly than gas.”
Daan Walter, principal at Ember, said, “Electricity demand is rising as new uses emerge across the US economy, from data centers to transportation and heating. This makes the case for solar and wind today even stronger – they are not only fast to deploy and cheap but also help stabilize energy costs in the long run.”
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Elon Musk said today that Tesla will double its electric vehicle production in the US in the next two years.
What would that look like? Let’s do the math.
Today, during a press conference to promote Tesla at the White House, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the following:
“As a function of the great policies of President Trump and his administration, and as an act of faith in America, Tesla is going to double vehicle output in the United States within the next two years.”
This raises many questions, as Musk’s phrasing of the statement suggests that Tesla is planning to add previously unannounced production capacity in response to Trump’s policies.
However, the reality could be different.
What is Tesla’s current production capacity in the US?
We only know Tesla’s installed capacity, which is much different than its actual production rate.
This is Tesla’s latest disclosed global production capacity at the end of 2024:
| Region | Model | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Model S / Model X | 100,000 | Production |
| Model 3 / Model Y | >550,000 | Production | |
| Shanghai | Model 3 / Model Y | >950,000 | Production |
| Berlin | Model Y | >375,000 | Production |
| Texas | Model Y | >250,000 | Production |
| Cybertruck | >125,000 | Production | |
| Cybercab | — | In development | |
| Nevada | Tesla Semi | — | Pilot production |
| TBD | Roadster | — | In development |
In the US, it adds up to 1,025,000 vehicles per year.
In reality, Tesla’s factories are operating at a much lower capacity.
Based on sales and inventory from 2024, Tesla is currently building fewer than 50,000 Model S/X vehicles per year compared to an installed capacity of 100,000 units.
As for Model 3 and Model Y, Tesla is currently building them in the US at a rate of about 600,000 units per year compared to claimed installed capacity of over 800,000 units.
Finally, the Cybertruck is being produced at a rate of less than 50,000 units per year compared to an installed capacity of over 125,000 units.
This adds up to Tesla producing 700,000 units per year in the US in 2024.
What will be Tesla’s new capacity?
Considering Musk mentioned that it will happen “within the next two years”, it is unlikely that he is referring to installed capacity.
The CEO is most likely talking about Tesla’s actual production, which would also make sense, especially considering he mentioned “output.”
Tesla currently outputs roughly 700,000 vehicles per year in the US.
Doubling that would mean bringing the total to 1.4 million units per year, which would be an incredible feat, but it’s not entirely a new plan for Tesla.
First off, Tesla has already announced plans to unveil two new, more affordable models this year. These models are going to be built on the same production lines as Model 3/Y, which would potentially enable Tesla to fully utilize its installed capacity for those vehicles.
That’s another 200,000 units already.
As already mentioned in Tesla’s installed capacity table, the company is currently developing its production facility for the Tesla Semi electric truck in Nevada.
Production is expected to start later this year and ramp up next year. Tesla has previously mentioned a goal of 50,000 units per year. It would leave Tesla roughly a year and half to ramp up to this capacity, which is ambitious, but not impossible.
Then there’s the “Cybercab”, which was unveiled last year.
The Cybercab is going to use Tesla’s next-gen vehicle platform and new manufacturing system, which is already being deployed at Gigafactory Texas.
Production is expected to start in 2026, and Musk has mentioned a production capacity of “at least 2 million units per year”. However, he said that this would likely come from more than one factory and it’s unclear if the other factory would be in the US.
Either way, Tesla would need to ramp up Cybercab production in the US to 450,000 units to make Musk’s announcement correct.
It’s fair to note that all of this was part of Tesla’s plans before the US elections, Trump’s coming into power, or the implementation of any policies whatsoever.
Electrek’s Take
Based on my analysis, this announcement is nothing new. It’s just a reiteration of Elon’s plans for Tesla in the US, which were established long before Trump came to power or even before Elon officially backed Trump.
It’s just more “corporate puffery” as Elon’s lawyers would say.
Also, if I wasn’t clear, we are only talking about production here. I doubt Tesla will have the demand for that, especially if Elon remains involved with the company.
The Cybercab doesn’t even have a steering wheel, and if Tesla doesn’t solve self-driving, it will be hard to justify producing 450,000 units per year.
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The average incentive package for a new EV was 14.8% of the average transaction price (ATP), or approximately $8,162, the highest level in more than five years, according to the latest monthly new-vehicle ATP report from Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book.
Incentives for EVs are more than twice the overall market. A year ago, EV incentives were 10.2%. EV incentives, as a percentage of ATP, have increased by 44% in the past year.
In February, at $55,273, new EV prices were lower by 1.2% from January – generally aligned with the industry – and higher by 3.7% year-over-year. The January EV ATP was revised higher by 0.06% to $55,929.
Compared to the overall industry ATP of $48,039, EV ATPs in February were higher by 15.1%, an increase from the 14.9% gap recorded in January.
EV market leader Tesla increased ATPs by 1.8% year-over-year in February to $53,248 but decreased by 3.7% month-over-month from $55,315. Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertruck posted price declines in February compared to January; Model S and Model X saw month-over-month increases.
As sales cooled, the Cybertruck ATP in February dropped by more than 10% from January to an estimated $87,554.
Read more: You can lease a 2025 Polestar 3 for the same price as a Polestar 2 right now
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