NEW DELHI: A meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump could happen soon as the two sides have discussed plans for a bilateral meeting, for which Modi could be visiting America.
The White House, in a statement issued after Modi and Trump spoke over the phone on Monday, said, “The leaders discussed plans for Prime Minister Modi to visit the White House.”
The Indian statement issued late on Monday night had said, “The leaders agreed to remain in touch and meet soon at an early mutually convenient date.” Modi’s last bilateral meeting with a US President was in September last year when he met Joe Biden at Wilmington, Delaware, on the sidelines of the Quad summit. Meanwhile, the White House statement also mentioned two important parts of the US-India relationship bilateral trade and defense industrial partnership. The White House said, “The President emphasised… (of) moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship.”
India’s impositions of tariffs on several US-made items had angered Trump during his last term (2017-2021). In his second term, he has threatened the imposition of tariffs, including on ally Canada.
On the defense relationship, the White House said, “The President emphasized the importance of India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment.”
While the White House has mentioned the “importance” of defense ties, India has been badly hit with US company General Electric delaying the contracted supplies of its jet engines—named the F404—and planned to be used for the Tejas Mark 1A jets. Consequently, the deliveries of the jet—being made by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited—have been delayed. Meanwhile, the White House, in its statement, said the two leaders had a “productive call.”
“They discussed expanding and deepening cooperation. They also discussed a range of regional issues, including security in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe,” the White House said. Both leaders emphasized their commitment to advance the US-India strategic partnership and also the Indo-Pacific Quad partnership, the statement concluded. India is scheduled to host Quad Leaders for the first time later this year. Both India and the US are also partners with Japan and Australia in the “Quad.”
Last week, in a veiled message to China on its attempts to coerce its way through maritime territorial disputes, the foreign ministers of the Quad countries “strongly opposed” attempts to change any status quo. The Quad Foreign Ministers met at Washington DC on January 21, a day after Donald Trump took over as the US President. A joint statement listed how the four nations plan to take forward the Quad.
“Our four nations maintain our conviction that international law, economic opportunity, peace, stability, and security in all domains, including the maritime domain, underpin the development and prosperity of the peoples of the Indo-Pacific,” the statement had said.