U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday (September 18, 2025) said he is “very close” to India and shares a strong personal rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing a joint press conference with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, the British PM’s countryside residence, Mr. Trump said he has a “very good relationship” with Mr. Modi and also wished him on his 75th birthday — a gesture reciprocated by the Indian leader with a “beautiful” statement.

“I’m very close to India. I’m very close to the Prime Minister of India. I spoke to him the other day to wish him a Happy Birthday,” Mr. Trump told reporters.

“We have a very good relationship, and he put out a beautiful statement too. But I sanctioned them,” he said, in response to a question about his plans on dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Trump’s call on Tuesday (September 16, 2025), a day before Mr. Modi turned 75, is being seen as a significant gesture as part of the US’ efforts to reset ties with India amid strain over tariff issues.

The Trump administration doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50%, including a 25% additional duties for India’s purchase of Russian crude oil.

Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.

“Very simply, if the price of oil comes down, Mr. Putin is going to drop out. He’s going to have no choice. He’s going to drop out of that war,” Mr. Trump said, adding that he was forced to sanction European nations and China too for buying oil from Russia.

“China is paying a very large tariff right now to the United States, but I’m willing to do other things, but not when the people that I’m fighting for are buying oil from Russia. If the oil price comes down, very simply, Russia will settle; and the oil price is way down, we got it way down,” he claimed.

During the press conference, Mr. Trump noted that Mr. Putin had been his “biggest disappointment” over the ongoing conflict with Ukraine and went on to repeat his claim about intervening in the India-Pakistan face-off earlier this year.

“We did seven (conflicts) and most of them were not thought to be settleable. We did India, and we did Pakistan. That’s two nuclear (countries),” he said.

“That was purely for trade. You [India and Pakistan] want to trade with us, you’re going to have to get along. And they [India and Pakistan] were going at it hot and heavy,” he said.

In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor in retaliation of the Pakistan-backed terrorist strike in Pahalgam in April, Mr. Trump had taken to on social media to proclaim that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire and repeatedly claimed that he told the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours that America will do a “lot of trade” with them if they stopped the conflict.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention, maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.

Mr. Trump and wife Melania, who were in the UK on a two-day State Visit at the invitation of King Charles III, departed from Chequers to board Air Force One back to Washington soon after the press interaction.

Congressman Jonathan Jackson on Friday (September 5, 2025) denounced President Donald Trump’s tariffs on India, describing them as a “trade embargo by another name” and warning that the measures risk undermining long-term U.S. interests in Asia.

“President Trump’s reckless 50% tariffs on India are tantamount to a sanction by another name,” Mr. Jackson said in a statement. “Instead of strengthening America, these actions have weakened trust, disrupted trade, and pushed India closer to China and Russia. That is a dangerous path and one that hurts our long-term national interests.”

The Illinois Democrat called India “a natural partner” for the United States, stressing that the two democracies share more than commercial ties.

“The United States is the world’s largest economy and the world’s oldest democracy. India is the world’s largest democracy and the nation with the world’s largest population. Together, our countries are natural partners whose destinies are tied to freedom, democracy, and prosperity,” he said.

Mr. Jackson also underscored the historic moral bond between India’s independence movement and the American civil rights struggle.

“Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence inspired the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who in turn inspired movements for justice around the globe,” Mr. Jackson said. “My father, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, carried forward that same spirit of building bridges and lifting people up. Our nations share a moral connection that cannot be reduced to economics alone.”

He urged the administration to temper its diplomatic rhetoric.

“The Secretary should choose his words more carefully and be more respectful so we can improve our bilateral relationship. Strong democracies must talk to one another in ways that build trust, not division,” Mr. Jackson said.

The comments come as Washington and New Delhi struggle with escalating tariff disputes and the shifting geopolitics of Asia.

(This article is published in an arrangement with 5wh.com)