United States President Donald Trump on Thursday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “a great man” and “a friend,” while suggesting he may visit India next year to further strengthen trade ties between the two countries.
Speaking to reporters at the White House after announcing a new deal to lower prices of weight loss drugs, Trump said his discussions with Modi were “going great.”
“He (PM Modi) largely stopped buying from Russia. And he is a friend of mine, and we speak. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a great man. He is a friend of mine, and we speak and he wants me to go there. We will figure that out, I will go… Prime Minister Modi is a great man and I will be going,” Trump said.
When asked directly if he planned to travel to India next year, Trump replied, “It could be, yes.”
The comments come amid ongoing trade negotiations between India and the United States following Washington’s decision to impose 50 per cent tariffs, including an additional 25 per cent duty, over India’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
A shift in US-India ties?
This development is a shift from an August report in The New York Times, which said the US President did not plan to visit India for the Quad summit later this year following Washington’s imposition of tariffs on India.
The report, which cited sources familiar with the US President’s schedule, was headlined ‘The Nobel Prize and a Testy Phone Call: How the Trump-Modi Relationship Unraveled’.
“Mr. Modi, who once called Mr. Trump “a true friend,” was officially on the outs. After telling Mr. Modi that he would travel to India later this year for the Quad summit, Mr. Trump no longer has plans to visit in the fall, according to people familiar with the president’s schedule,” the NYT report stated.
Trump on Russian oil and tariffs on India
Trump spoke of his talks with PM Modi and a potential visit during a White House press briefing where a new initiative reducing the cost of popular weight loss drugs across the US was announced.
The event was briefly paused after a representative fainted.
“During the Most Favoured Nations Oval Office Announcement, a representative with one of the companies fainted. The White House Medical Unit quickly jumped into action, and the gentleman is okay. The press conference will resume shortly,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Trump’s remarks come amid ongoing trade negotiations between India and the US after Washington imposed a 50 per cent tariff, including 25 per cent additional duties, over India’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
Earlier on Tuesday, reaffirming Trump’s commitment to strengthening bilateral ties, Leavitt said, “The President is positive and feels very strongly about the India-US relationship. A few weeks ago, he spoke to the Prime Minister directly when he celebrated Diwali in the Oval Office with many high-ranking Indian-American officials here at the White House.”
Her remarks came after Trump said India had significantly reduced its purchase of Russian oil. During his Asia tour, he described New Delhi as being “very good” on the issue and said PM Modi had assured him that India would curb or halt crude imports from Moscow.
Earlier this month, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a response to Trump’s comments, reiterating that the country’s energy sourcing decisions are based on national interests and consumer welfare.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “India is a significant importer of oil and gas. It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario. Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective.”
“Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement. This has steadily progressed in the last decade. The current Administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing,” Jaiswal said.
