“PM Modi just concluded a very substantive and very productive visit to the US at the invitation of President Donald Trump… This is the PM’s first visit after the inauguration of President Trump for a second term… the fact that this visit is taking place within three weeks and a bit of the inauguration is a signal of priority that both leaders attached to the India-US relationship.”
Vikram Misri, India’s foreign secretary, said in his press address shortly as Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his US visit after a four-hour-long marathon talk with US President Donald Trump at the White House. The two leaders discussed a range of topics — everything from defence to trade and immigration and vowed to strengthen the India-US partnership.
The meeting also highlighted Modi and Trump’s close friendship, a relationship they first cultivated during the US president’s first term at the White House. At Thursday’s meet, the two leaders hugged, with Trump telling Modi, “We missed you a lot.” The US president also presented the PM with a
book — Our Journey Together — that features snapshots from moments of ‘Howdy Modi’ and ‘Namaste Trump’ events.
But just how successful was Trump’s visit to the US? What has India gained from this visit? We analyse and get you all the answers.
A huge shadow of tariffs loomed large over this meeting between PM Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump. Just hours before the two met, the US president announced all the US’ trading partners — including India — should face sweeping
reciprocal tariffs.
When the two leaders gathered at the Oval Office, they agreed to set up a new target – “Mission 500” – aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. At present, the US is India’s largest trading partner with bilateral trade between the countries standing at $129.2 billion in 2024.
They also decided that the two would negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by the fall of 2025. To this end, the leaders have committed to assigning senior representatives to advance these negotiations.
Amid their talks, Modi said, “In order to ensure India’s energy security, we will focus on trade in oil and gas. Investment in energy infrastructure will also increase in nuclear energy. We also discussed increasing cooperation on small modular reactors.”
Trump, too, spoke of nuclear cooperation. “In the ground-breaking development for the US nuclear industry, India is also reforming its laws to welcome US nuclear technology, which is at the highest level, into the Indian market. This will bring safe, clean and affordable electricity to millions of Indians and tens of billions of dollars to the US civilian nuclear industry in India.” This is clearly a win-win for both.
When the matter of tariffs was brought up at the press conference, Trump heaped praise on Modi, saying he was a “much tougher negotiator” than him. “He (PM Narendra Modi) is a much tougher negotiator than me and he is a much better negotiator than me. There is not even a contest,” Trump said.
Another big win that PM Modi has scored from the US visit is the
F-35 fighter jet deal. At the press conference, US President Donald Trump said, “We’re paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters.”
This is significant for India as to date, the US has until date not provided India access to the fifth-generation fighter jet, also believed to be the world’s most advanced stealth aircraft.
In addition to the F-35 fighter jets, the two sides also announced plans for the new 10-year defence framework. “Highlighting the deepening convergence of US-India strategic interests, the leaders reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to a dynamic defence partnership spanning multiple domains. To advance defence ties further, the leaders announced plans to sign this year a new ten-year Framework for the US-India Major Defence Partnership in the 21st Century,” the joint statement read.
Modi has also gained a commitment from Trump to pursue new procurement and co-production for the
Javelin Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and “Stryker” Infantry Combat Vehicles in India. This will boost India’s defence capabilities.
The PM and the US president also announced a new initiative — “the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) – to scale industry partnerships and production in the Indo-Pacific”. This refers to India-US cooperation in the area of underwater domain awareness (UDA) technologies. And an Indian Express report, citing sources said that India is the very first country with whom the US defence industry has offered to work with these sensitive technologies.
Perhaps, one of the bigger wins that India has drawn from Modi’s visit is the extradition of 2008 Mumbai terror attack accused
Tahawwur Rana. “I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved of one of the extradition plotters (Tahawwur Rana) and one of the very evil people of the world, having to do with the horrific 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack to face justice in India,” said US President Trump at the joint press conference.
“He is going back to India to face justice,” he added.
This is significant for India, which has long been requesting Rana’s extradition and which was moved up after the US Supreme Court rejected his petition against the move.
This marks the US’ commitment to India on the matter of tackling the scourge of terrorism. It also highlights the strong partnership between the US and India in counter-terrorism efforts.
Sources told News18 that Rana’s extradition to India will send several significant messages to the world. It shows that terrorists and their facilitators will not find safe havens in other countries, including the USA where human rights are a top priority.
As per the joint statement, Trump has committed to strengthening cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qaeda, Islamic State, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayiba in order to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021.
Trump also joined Modi in calling on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks. The leaders also pledged to work together to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors.
India can also hail another win from Modi’s US visit and that’s on the issue of Bangladesh, India’s neighbouring country.
When asked about the role of the “US deep state” in the affairs of Bangladesh, Trump said, “Well, there was no role for our deep state… This is something that the prime minister has been working on for a long time and has been working on it for hundreds of years. Frankly, I’ve been reading about it, but I will
leave Bangladesh to the prime minister.”
Tensions have been simmering between New Delhi and Dhaka since the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government in August last year. Bangladesh’s interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has sought the extradition of Hasina, to which India hasn’t yet responded.
By refusing to answer questions and deferring the topic to Modi, Trump showed that he was supportive of New Delhi in the matter.
As PM Modi said as he departed for India this visit has “added significant momentum to the India-USA friendship”.
With inputs from agencies
Link to article –
Trade, tech and terror: How PM Modi scored a win for India with his US visit
