On Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the fourth world leader to visit Donald Trump in the White House since the start of his second term as US president.
Trump and Modi’s relationship has been called “bromance” in several media outlets. That affinity continued to boil down strongly during the latest meetings.
The two leaders thrilled praise on each other, but they publicly avoided the more inspiring points of discussion.
The chief among them is Trump’s newly announced “mutual tariffs,” where he suggests answering foreign import taxes on US goods at interest rates comparable to those imposed by countries. Masu.
Trump is reportedly reportedly even calling Modi “the king of tariffs.”
However, at a meeting Thursday, the two leaders announced they would pursue a “framework” for greater cooperation.
“Prime Minister Modi and I have agreed that we are in negotiations to address the long-term gap,” Trump said, referring to US-India trade ties.
“But really, we want a certain level of playing field, and I think it’s really qualified.”
However, their newly announced framework has gone beyond import taxes to include collaborations on space travel, international security and energy trade.
Here are four takeaways from their meeting.
Modi embraces Trump’s Maga movement
Right-wing leaders, Modi and Trump, both face accusations of democratic reversal in their own country.
Leaders recently won re-elections in their respective countries: Modi in June and Trump in November last year.
Much of their public opening on Thursday was dedicated to affirming their commitment to each other, with Trump praising Modi as a “great leader” and calling him a “friend.”
In backswrapping, Modi appealed to “make America great” with his pride in Trump’s slogan, adding an Indian twist to his motto.
“The American people know President Trump’s motto: “Make America Great Again” or Maga,” Modi said through the translator.
“By borrowing expression from the US, our vision for a developed India is to “make India great again” or Miga. When America and India work together, when it is Maga and Miga, it becomes Mega-Mega Partnership for Prosperity. ”
Modi, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), compares his Hindu majority platform with Trump’s “America First” agenda and says he will also put his country’s priorities first.
“One of the things I am deeply grateful and learned from President Trump is that he keeps the national interests at its best,” Modi said through the translator. “And like him, I also keep India’s national interests at the top of all the other.”
India’s trade concessions
In the face of tariff prospects that will fall into the economy, world leaders have appealed to Trump with various concessions.
Mexico, for example, sent its National Guard to the southern border with the United States. Canada has established a joint task force to combat fentanyl trafficking and organized crime.
And on Thursday, Modi arrived with his own offer designed to blunt any economic measures Trump may take against India.
The two leaders emerged from the closure meeting with an agreement to increase trade between their countries, including partnerships on space travel, artificial intelligence and energy production. Modi has pledged a “new scale and scope” to the shared goal.
“We have also set a goal of more than double bilateral trade to achieve $500 million by 2030,” Modi said.
As of 2024, US government statistics show that total trade between the two countries was an estimated $129.2 billion.
The US currently has a trade deficit of $45.7 billion with India, with South Asian countries exporting $87.4 billion in goods to the US. But Trump has publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with such deficits, pledging to narrow them down and increase US exports.
He blames foreign tariffs on US goods in part because of disparities.
“Prime Minister Modi recently announced an unfair and very strong tariff cut in India that would very strongly restrict access to the Indian market. And it’s really a big problem, I have to say. ” Trump repeated Thursday.
However, he shows signs of optimism, saying his bond with the United States is “the strongest ever.” He also involved India’s efforts to increase US energy products purchases and help reduce the deficit.
“The Prime Minister and I have also reached a key energy agreement to restore the US to India as a leading oil and gas supplier. Hopefully it will be their number one supplier,” Trump said. I did.
The US President also teased international infrastructure similar to China’s Belt and Road initiative, bringing allies around the world together.
“We agreed to work together to build one of the biggest trade routes in all of history. We run from India to Israel, Italy and the US, partnering with ports, railways and submarine cables. Connect.
It is likely that Trump was referring to the economic corridor of India, Middle Eastern Europe, which was announced in September 2023. The proposed corridor promoted by the United States is intended to run through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Greece, but that future has come under the clouds amid the Israeli war with Gaza.
The US president said the corridors allow the US to “stay as a leader.” This is likely to be a reference to continued economic competition with China.
Focus on fighting terrorism
The conference was expected to focus on countering China’s international influence, but another security issue emerged between the two allies. It is the ghost of “terrorism.”
Much of the focus was on Trump’s pledge to hand over Chicago businessman Tahoul Lana. In 2013, a US federal court sentenced Rana, a Canadian citizen in Pakistan, to 14 years in prison in a “conspiracy to provide material support to terrorist conspiracy” against a Danish news outlet. .
He has also been accused of providing important support in the 2008 Mumbai attack, killing 175 people, but has not been convicted of the matter.
Rana had appealed to India for his impending extradition, where he was likely to face the death penalty. But last month, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block extradition proceedings, and with Trump’s succession on Thursday, that’s pretty much certain.
Modi praised Trump for his decision at a press conference on Thursday, comparing Mumbai’s attack to “genocide.” He vowed in an Indian court that a “appropriate lawsuit” would be taken against Rana.
“India and the US will stand together strongly in the fight against terrorism,” Modi said.
Trump said the US will increase military sales to India by “billions of dollars.”
“And more, the US and India are working together more than ever to tackle the threat of radical Islamic terrorism, in fact, a threat from around the world.”
However, Modi has been accused of turning a blind eye to anti-Muslim violence and spreading anti-Muslim hate speech.
Trump faces questions about the Ukrainian Peace Contract
However, one topic continued to emerge and had little to do with the relationship between the US and India.
Instead, Trump repeatedly submitted questions from reporters about his discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the war in Ukraine.
The conflict began three years ago in February 2022 when Russia began a full-scale invasion of the country. However, on Wednesday, a prominent gust of calls raised hopes for a possible peace deal.
Trump announced that he had made a “long and very productive call” with Putin that morning. He followed the second call to Ukrainian President Volodimia Zelensky.
However, while Trump and Putin exchanged agreements to visit each other’s countries, Ukraine and its European allies have expressed an increase in skepticism about the expected negotiations.
Zelensky urged international leaders not to take Putin’s guarantees at face value, telling the press that the peace negotiated without Ukrainian consent was not at all peaceful.
Meanwhile, Trump appeared to reflect Russian topics at his press conference with Modi. Russia has long argued that Ukrainian desire to enter the NATO alliance is part of the motivation for war.
“Russia was dressed in something they think they hope they don’t. If I were the president, that wouldn’t have happened,” Trump said.
“Russia is taking over a fairly large territory right now. They have also said from day one, long before Putin, that Ukraine cannot be in NATO. They say it very strongly. I think it actually caused the start of the war.”
Russia claimed in 1990 that the US guaranteed the former Soviet Union to expand NATO “not 1 inch east”, but no formal agreement on the issue has been struck before.
Trump previously said it was “impossible” for Ukraine to begin Russia to regain Crimea’s annexation in 2014.
But when asked on Thursday if Russia would give up anything in peace talks, Trump avoided the question.
“It’s too early to say what will happen. Maybe Russia will give up a lot, maybe they won’t, and it all depends on what will happen.”
Modi did not comment on the Russian-Ukurein war during public comments, but Trump’s latest stance on the conflict could resonate with India, which has strong and historical ties with Moscow . Under the Biden administration, the Modi government has sometimes faced US pressure to curb oil imports from Russia.
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