U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed Monday to step up bilateral security partnership in the Indo-Pacific region in response to the rise of China.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Modi after their meeting at the White House, Trump said the U.S. and Indian militaries, together with Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, will hold "the largest maritime exercise ever conducted in the vast Indian Ocean" next month.

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Without mentioning China's growing naval presence in and around the Indian Ocean, Modi said maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region is a major objective of strategic cooperation between Washington and New Delhi.

"The increasing possibilities for enhancing cooperation in order to protect our strategic interests will continue to determine the dimensions of our partnership," he said through an interpreter. "We will continue to work with the U.S.A. in this region."

Trump said the bilateral security partnership is "incredibly important." Modi said the two countries "are committed to a bilateral architecture that will take our strategic partnership to new heights."

Trump thanked India for joining the United States and other countries in applying new sanctions on North Korea as part of an effort to curb its aggressive development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

"The North Korean regime is causing tremendous problems and is something that has to be dealt with -- and probably dealt with rapidly," he said.

The two leaders also affirmed increased cooperation in ensuring peace and stability in Afghanistan, as well as in the fight against terrorism, according to Modi.

Trump said the two countries are determined to destroy terrorist organizations and the radical ideology that drives them. "We will destroy radical Islamic terrorism," he said.

On the economic front, Trump urged India to remove trade barriers for U.S. goods as part of an effort to reduce New Delhi's trade surplus with Washington.

Trump said he is looking forward to exporting more energy to fast-growing India, including major long-term contracts for American natural gas currently under negotiation between the two governments.