PM Modi and Donald Trump discuss Ukraine and Gaza wars

The possibility of the two leaders meeting bilaterally is very much on cards

Updated on: Jan 28, 2025, 05:38:49 IST

By Shishir Gupta

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to US President Donald Trump in the first telephonic conversation since the Republican leader's inauguration on January 20.

PM Modi congratulated Trump on beginning his second term as the 47th president of the United States.

Both PM Modi and Trump reaffirmed their commitment to work towards a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership. During the conversation, both the leaders discussed measures for strengthening cooperation in technology, trade, investment, energy and defense.

File Image from June 2017 of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then President of United States of America (USA) Donald Trump exchanging greetings at a joint press conference in Washington. (PTI)

Prime Minister Modi and Trump exchanged views on global issues, including the situation in West Asia and Ukraine. They reiterated their commitment to work together to promote global peace, prosperity and security.

The leaders agreed to remain in touch and meet soon at an early mutually convenient date.

After the conversation, PM Modi wrote on X,"Delighted to speak with my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump @POTUS. 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."

ALSO READ: US sees Taiwan challenge from China in 2027: Will QUAD under Trump, PM Modi stand up?

Trump administration to further cement ties with India

External affairs minister S Jaishankar attended Trump's inauguration as the special envoy of Prime Minister Modi on January 20. He later met National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and attended QUAD meeting with newly appointed secretary of state Marco Rubio, Australian foreign minister Penny Wong and Japanese foreign minister Iwaya Takeshi.

Jaishankar also held a bilateral meeting with his US counterpart Rubio.

Sources told HT that the Trump administration will carry forward the India-US bilateral momentum achieved during the previous regime, and is all set to forge big steps in technology, defence and security, trade and commerce, and economic ties.

The meeting between Jaishankar and Rubio had turned out to be very positive, with both the countries committed to move forward on the basis of mutual interest and mutual security.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shishir Gupta
Shishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.Read More

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.