WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will host his Argentine counterpart in Washington next week after a planned meeting was postponed last year, the White House has announced.

Biden’s meeting with President Alberto Fernandez will be held on the sidelines of the second Summit for Democracy on March 29, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement on Saturday.

Biden and Fernandez had originally been set to meet in July last year. That meeting was postponed after the US president tested positive for Covid-19.

The two leaders will “celebrate 200 years of bilateral relations” and discuss subjects including minerals, climate change, space and technology, the statement said.

“They will also discuss economic cooperation, as well as their shared values of inclusion, democracy, and the protection of human rights.”

The Summit for Democracy will take place on March 28-30, co-hosted by the United States, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia.

The first iteration of the summit was held in 2021 and was spearheaded by Biden, who has made the contest between democracies and autocracies, such as China and Russia, a central theme of his administration.