 "US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House when the two met in February. File image/AFP")
US President Donald Trump said he is planning to visit India soon, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “great man” and a “dear friend”. Trump’s latest remarks are seen by many as the latest sign of a possible thaw in a trade dispute that has soured the two countries’ relationship.
“He’s a friend of mine, and we speak, and he wants me to go there, and we’ll figure that out, I’ll go,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. He went on to maintain that trade negotiations with India are going “very well.” When asked if the American leader is planning to visit New Delhi next year, Trump replied, “It could be, yeah.” However, he still declined to provide a timeline for a trip.
The India-US ties deteriorated after Trump earlier this year slapped 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods . The move was undertaken to put pressure on New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine. The tariffs added further tensions to an already contentious negotiation over what the US has described as India’s high levies and other barriers on American goods.
Improving ties
In recent weeks, the American leader has claimed that the Indian Prime Minister has pledged to wind down purchases of crude oil from Russia and expressed optimism about trade talks.
Trump has often been seen lauding PM Modi’s leadership and has maintained that both leaders share a strong personal relationship. However, it’s unclear whether recent warmth between the two nations will last.
The alliance between the two nations also took a hit with Trump’s repeated claim that he deserves credit for brokering a truce in a four-day armed conflict between India and Pakistan . Not only this, the Pakistani leadership, including Army Chief Asim Munir and PM Shehbaz Sharif’s frequent visit to the United States, have also made India wary of its ’not so old ally'.
It was initially reported that Trump was planning to visit India this year for the Quad Summit . However, that did not materialise. It is pertinent to note that Trump’s last presidential visit to India came in February 2020, during his first term in the Oval Office. At that time, he received a grand welcome in Ahmedabad with events such as ‘Namaste Trump’. PM Modi later went to Texas, where he was welcomed by the ‘ Howdy Modi ’ event in Houston.