File image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with U.S. President Donald Trump.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Washington DC to meet President Donald Trump, the White House has said. In an announcement that came hours after Mr. Trump and Mr. Modi spoke over the phone, the White House called for a “fair bilateral trading relationship”, indicating that India will host the leaders of the Quadrilateral grouping in the coming months.
“The two leaders 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 President emphasised the importance of increasing its procurement of America-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship,” the White House statement said.
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“The leaders discussed plans for Mr. Modi to visit the White House, underscoring the strength of the friendship and strategic ties between our nations. 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,” the press note said.
New dimension
Mr. Modi on Monday (January 27, 2025) said he held a telephone conversation with Mr. Trump saying that he had agreed to work for “global peace” and “security”. “Congratulated him [Mr. Trump] on his historic second term. We are committed to a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership,” the Prime Minister said. However, President Trump added a new dimension to the relationship soon after holding the telephone call with Mr. Modi, with the call for putting “America first” in trade relations with major economies.
“We are going to put tariffs on outside countries and people that really mean harm to us. Well… they mean us harm, but they basically want to make their country good. China is a tremendous tariff-maker, like India, Brazil, and so many other countries. (But) we are not going to let that happen any longer… because we are going to put America first,” Mr. Trump announced, addressing a gathering of House Republicans in Florida. The Trump administration held the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting on January 21 following the swearing-in ceremony in Washington DC that was attended by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
The leadership summit of the Quad grouping is expected in the coming months which will be held in India this time. The Trump administration has zeroed in on immigration, H1B visas and tariffs that are of great relevance to India’s interest in its relations with Washington DC.
Published – January 28, 2025 08:45 am IST