During his two-day visit to the United States, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, where the two leaders held bilateral talks. The meeting followed Trump’s sharp comments on tariffs and Brics nations.
Despite this, their strong personal bond was evident as the two leaders hugged, reflecting their camaraderie when PM Modi arrived and was warmly welcomed by Trump at the White House.
Here are the key quotes from their discussions:
PM Modi on progress and partnership
“Together we will march towards progress and prosperity of our two nations.” – PM Modi in his opening remarks.
Trump on friendship and trade
“It’s a great honour to have PM Modi of India. He is a great friend of mine for a long time… We have, I think, some very big things to talk about. Number 1 is, they are going to be purchasing a lot of our oil and gas. We have more oil and gas than any other country in the world. They need it, and we have it. We are going to talk about trade. We are going to talk about many things.” – President Trump.
PM on national interest
“I appreciate that he (President Trump) always keeps the national interest (of the US) supreme. Like President Trump, it is a great fortune for me to keep the interests of India supreme and work.” – PM Modi.
Extradition of 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana cleared: Trump
“I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters (Tahawwur Rana) and one of the very evil people of the world, having to do with the horrific 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack to face justice in India. He is going back to India to face justice.” – President Trump.
PM Modi’s congratulations to Trump
“I congratulate you on this grand victory of yours, not just from my side, but on behalf of 140 crore Indians as well… I have once again got the opportunity to work with President Trump.” – PM Modi.
Shared memories and future collaboration
“I am happy that as soon as I entered this room, my friend reminded me of Ahmedabad and the cricket stadium where we held a big rally… I firmly believe that, in your second term, we will work with even more speed. As I have promised people of India that in my third term, we will work with thrice the speed, I firmly believe that with President Trump, during the next 4 years… we will work with twice the speed than we did in his first term.” – PM Modi.
Trump on unity and friendship
“More than anything else, we (PM Modi and President Trump) have great unity, we have great friendship – he & I and our countries. I think it’s only going to get closer. But it’s very important that we remain united as countries. We are friends and we are going to stay that way.” – President Trump.
MAGA and Viksit Bharat 2047
“The people of America are well aware of MAGA – Make America Great Again. The people of India are also moving towards Viksit Bharat 2047. In The language of America, it’s Make India Great Again – MIGA. When America and India work together, this MEGA plus MIGA becomes a ‘mega partnership for prosperity’…Today, we have decided to double our trade by 2030.”
PM Modi on illegal immigration
“Those who stay in other countries illegally do not have any legal right to be there. As far as India and the US are concerned, we have always said that those who are verified and are truly the citizens of India – if they live in the US illegally, India is ready to take them back. But it doesn’t stop just there for us. These are people from ordinary families. They are shown big dreams and most of them are such who are misled and brought here. So, we should attack this entire system of human trafficking. Together, it should be the effort of the US and India to destroy such an ecosystem from its roots so that human trafficking ends…Our bigger fight is against that entire ecosystem and we are confident that President Trump will fully cooperate with India in finishing this ecosystem.” – PM Modi.
PM on strengthening ties
“President Trump’s first term has played a big role in making India-US relations stronger and taking them to new heights. I am confident that in the second term too, we will move ahead with the same pace.” – PM Modi.
Energy and trade
“We have some very big things to talk about; they (India) are going to be purchasing a lot of our oil and gas.” – President Trump.