PM Narendra Modi spoke to US President Donald Trump Monday, pledging to work for global peace, prosperity and security. Amid concerns in India about Trump’s threat to hike tariffs on imports from India and elsewhere, as also possible friction over illegal immigration, Modi said in a post on X that both sides are committed to a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership.
This was Modi’s first conversation with “my dear friend” Trump since the latter’s inauguration on January 20. While ties with the US in areas like defence, technology, counterterrorism, energy and space are expected to flourish further during the second Trump administration, fears remain about Trump’s possibly disruptive trade policies and his mass deportation threats.
According to the White House, Trump emphasized the importance of India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment and moving toward a “fair bilateral trading relationship”. “The leaders discussed plans for Prime Minister Modi to visit the White House, underscoring the strength of the friendship and strategic ties between our nations,” said the White House readout.
“Delighted to speak with my dear friend President Donald Trump. Congratulated him on his historic second term. We are committed to a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership. We will work together for the welfare of our people and towards global peace, prosperity and security,’’ said Modi in a post on X on Monday evening.
Modi and Trump discussed various facets of the wide-ranging bilateral Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and measures to advance it, including in the areas of technology, trade, investment, energy and defence, said the Indian government in a readout. The two leaders exchanged views on global issues, including the situation in West Asia and Ukraine and agreed to meet soon.
The conversation came ahead of a possible meeting between the 2 leaders on the margins of the AI summit that France will host next month. Trump has been invited for the summit and Modi has already confirmed his participation. India and the US are also in touch diplomatically for a bilateral visit by Modi to the US in the next few months, well before Trump travels to India for the Quad summit later this year.
It also followed external affairs minister S Jaishankar’s meeting with his counterpart Marco Rubio in which the former raised issues related to delay in issuance of US visas to Indian nationals and Rubio brought up irregular migration from India. While India is open to taking back illegal migrants, as it was with the Biden administration and even earlier with the first Trump presidency, it wants enough time to be able to first verify the Indian origin of 18,000 illegals that US authorities have identified for deportation to India. While the Indian government wants to work with US authorities to address the issue, it has distanced itself from the number saying any discussion on numbers will be premature at this stage. For the US, India remains one of the largest sources of illegal immigration outside of Latin America.