United States President Joe Biden on Friday said that the Indian press was “much better behaved” than the media in his country. Biden made the comment ahead of the bilateral talks between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.

The two leaders had just made their way to the Oval Office – the US president’s workspace in the White House – when Biden said: “I think what they are going to do is bring in the press.”

He then added with a chuckle: “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.”

In this video, Biden can be seen making the comment at the 2.08-minute mark.

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On Friday, Modi and Biden held their first bilateral talks since the later took over as the president of the United States.

A joint statement on the meeting stated that the two leaders called for bringing the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack to justice. They also said that India and the US will take concerted action against all terrorist groups, including those proscribed by the United Nations.

Modi, who is on a five-day visit to the US, has also held meetings with US Vice President Kamala Harris and Australian and Japanese prime ministers Scott Morrison and Yoshihide Suga. He also attended the first in-person summit of the Quad grouping.

Quad is an alliance of India, Australia, Japan and the US.

Later on Saturday, Modi is scheduled to address the General Assembly of the UN.