PM Modi looks forward to meeting 'dear friend' Trump, says 'will develop agenda to further elevate US-India ties'

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that he and his “dear friend” President Donald Trump would work together for the mutual benefit of the people of India and the United States.

Modi landed in Paris on Monday to attend the Artificial Intelligence in Action summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

He would fly to Washington DC on Wednesday for a meeting with Trump, who returned to the White House on January 20 as the 47^th president of the US.

The recent deportation of 104 Indian illegal migrants – mostly with hands manacled and legs shackled – from the US and tariff threats by Trump have cast a shadow on his meeting with Modi. New Delhi, however, appears to be keen to keep its ties with Washington DC on track.

Modi said in a statement issued before departing from New Delhi that India would seek to expand its cooperation with the US in diverse areas, including technology, trade, defence and energy.  

“We will work together for the mutual benefit of the people of our two countries and shape a better future for the world,” the prime minister said about his forthcoming meeting with the US president.

“Although this will be our first meeting following his historic electoral victory and inauguration in January, I have a very warm recollection of working together in his first term in building a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership between India and the US.

“This visit will be an opportunity to build upon the successes of our collaboration in his first term and develop an agenda to further elevate and deepen our partnership, including in the areas of technology, trade, defence, energy, and supply chain resilience,” added Modi.

The prime minister and the US president have a checkered history, notwithstanding the bonhomie publicly displayed at the “Howdy! Modi” event in Texas in September 2019 and its sequel “Namaste! Trump” in Ahmedabad in February 2020.

Trump had earlier publicly ridiculed Modi after the latter had called the then US president to inform him about his government’s decision to slash tariff on the import of Harley Davidson motorcycles from the US to India by 50%. He had in the same year scrapped the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) privilege for the exporters of India in the US. He had also belittled India’s support to the development projects in Afghanistan.

In April 2020, Trump had warned of “retaliation” if India had not allowed the export of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for COVID-19 patients in the US. He had even alleged that the Modi Government had been underreporting the number of people who had died of COVID-19 in India.

Even during his campaign for reelection to the White House, Trump on September 17 last year called India “a big abuser” in trade relations with the US. He criticised India for imposing high tariffs on imports from the US.