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PM Modi to visit US in Feb, announces Trump

Jan 29, 2025 12:24 AM IST

PM Modi will visit the White House in February, as Trump emphasizes US-India ties, discussing trade, defence, and immigration in a recent call.

Washington: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the White House sometime in February, US President Donald Trump announced late on Monday (Tuesday IST) as he termed the ties between the two countries as “very good” and claimed that India will do the “right thing” on illegal immigration.

Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump leave the stage at NRG Stadium after a rally on September 22, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Getty Images)
Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump leave the stage at NRG Stadium after a rally on September 22, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Getty Images)

Trump’s statements came hours after a call with Modi -- one that the White House described as “productive”, and one in which Trump asked India to buy more made-in-America security equipment and move towards a “fair” trading partnership. In an address to Republican lawmakers after the call on Monday, Trump threatened tariffs against India, clubbing it with China and Brazil as countries that “mean the US harm” and exploited the US market.

The announcement of the visit — which will make Modi among the last leaders that Joe Biden hosted and among the first leaders Trump will host — and the clear articulation of US demands on trade, defence and immigration point to both the diplomatic opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in the India-US relationship.

On Air Force One, on his way back from Florida to Washington DC, Trump spoke on America’s close ties with New Delhi. “I had a long talk with him (Modi) this morning and he is going to be coming to the White House in the next month, probably in February,” the President said. While the dates have not been announced, there is speculation that Modi may visit DC after attending a summit on artificial intelligence in Paris in mid-February.

Trump said “everything” had come up in the call, including immigration, and claimed India would “do the right thing”. India has already said that it is opposed to illegal immigration and will take back Indian illegal immigrants from the US once they are identified. While a Pew study has indicated that there are over 700,000 illegal Indian immigrants in the US, the current bilateral discussions are reportedly around taking back 18,000 immigrants who have been identified.

In its readout of the call between the two leaders, the White House said that Trump and Modi discussed “expanding and deepening cooperation”, and a range of regional issues “including security in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe”. This broadly aligned with Indian readout, which stated that the two leaders had “reaffirmed their commitment for a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership” and exchanged views on global issues, including Ukraine and West Asia.

But the real difference in the two readouts, in terms of the framing and emphasis rather than the subjects itself, was on some of the specifics.

While the Indian readout referred to five issues that the two leaders discussed and agreed to advance — technology, trade, investment, energy and defence — the White House publicly highlighted the Trump’s clear demands on two issues.

“The President emphasised the importance of India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship,” the US readout of the call stated.

In a separate event on Monday, addressing Republican lawmakers, Trump brought up India in the context of his commitment to American producers, and decision to get other countries to pay for the privilege of accessing the American market. “We are going to put tariffs on outside countries and outside people that really mean us harm. Well, they mean us harm, but they basically want to make their country good. Look at what others do. China is a tremendous tariff maker and India and Brazil and so many countries. And so we are not going to let to let that happen any longer because we’re going to put America first,” Trump said.

On trade, Trump has often referred to India as a “tariff king”, raised the issue of India’s trade surplus, and spoken of the non-reciprocal nature of the trade relationship. In his first term, Trump terminated India’s designation as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) that allowed India to export a set of specified products duty free to US. India’s trade surplus in goods with the US was over $41 billion from January to November of 2024, according to official US records.

In recent weeks, New Delhi has signalled a willingness to reduce tariffs in specific sectors, purchase more energy from the US to bridge the deficit, and even embark on discussions with the aim of a trade pact. And contrary to his campaign promise, Trump has not imposed an across the board tariff hike. But in an executive order, Trump has mandated agencies and departments to study America’s trade relationships, deficits, unfair trade practices and explore prospects of agreements.

“Trump’s trade request doubles down on his approach to India during his first term. He is focused on reducing the trade deficit and creating more opportunities for US exports. Energy, especially in the form of natural gas, is an easy way for the two countries to create more balance, especially as India seeks to increase LNG’s share of its energy mix.,” said Alexander Slater, managing director with Capstone, a policy forecasting and strategic advisory group in DC and a former India-based managing director of the US-India Business Council.

On defence, while India’s acquisition of American military equipment has grown sharply in the last two decades, including most recently with an over $3 billion Predator drone deal, the US national security state continues to harbour resentment at three dimensions of Indian defence policy. These include, broadly, the Indian military’s deeper integration with Russia, procurement from other non-US partners (including France and Israel), and the growing make-in-India and coproduction requirements set by Delhi. The White House statement suggests that the US demand for more Indian acquisition may be an important prerequisite to deepening security ties, including co-production initiatives.

Explaining the significance of the US statement, Sameer Lalwani, a senior fellow with the Asia Center at the United States Institute of Peace, a DC-based think tank, and an expert on defence ties, said, “My impression is that this administration is encouraging something that has been consistent across past US administrations, which is for India to invest in and acquire advanced military capabilities to contribute to deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. There are plenty of capabilities India has already been exploring with the US such as fighter jet engines, maritime patrol aircraft, anti-tank guided missiles, and infantry combat vehicles, all of which have co-production elements, and would enhance India’s defence and deterrence.”

The US statement did not indicate if Trump raised both trade and defence as separate subjects, or whether he indicated, as some in the Republican ecosystem have privately done, that India buying more US defence equipment (along with purchasing more US energy) will help make the trade relationship fairer.

“The most intriguing part of the readout is where strategic and defence procurement fits in. It’s unclear if the Trump Administration will condition security cooperation on trade accommodation or take a less transactional approach so as to strengthen the two countries’ partnership in the Indo-Pacific region and globally,” Slater said.

Among the convergences, the White House statement mentioned Indo-Pacific and Quad. “Both leaders emphasised their commitment to advance the U.S.-India strategic partnership and the Indo-Pacific Quad partnership, with India hosting Quad Leaders for the first time later this year.”

After the call on Monday, Modi had posted from his personal account 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.”

With the visit in February, Modi and Trump will have an opportunity to revive their old warmth, send early signals of positivity, and work through the issues of discord and divergence that clearly are present in the bilateral dynamic at the moment.

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