Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US has proved to be well-timed. Rather than wait for the mercurial and unpredictable President Donald Trump to say and do things on his pet peeves, which include an obsession with tariffs, Modi took the initiative to engage him directly on exploring together how his concerns could be met—and India’s too—in a constructive way.

It was a pre-emptive move by Modi, aimed at setting up at the earliest the tone of India-US bilateral ties during Trump’s second presidency. Modi has gambled on the personal chemistry that he had established with Trump during his first term to make the visit and not let uncertainties cloud the existing positive atmosphere surrounding India-US relations.

Friends Inside 

India could rely on the many Indian friends amongst the appointees to the second Trump administration—such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, and the director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard—to adequately cushion the ties from the unpredictable shocks that Trump could potentially administer. Trump, supremely self-confident in his second term, believes that he has the measure of all America’s problems and is determined to use US power to get his way at the international level. It seems that he will listen to his advisors only to the extent that they support his thinking. This is positive in some ways, such as his desire to end the war in Ukraine, and highly negative in some other ways, such as his recipe for turning Gaza into a ‘Riviera’, ignoring the terrible human cost inflicted on its 2-million-plus inhabitants.

It is in this context that an early Modi visit and a personal contact with Trump was an astute move. It is apparent that Trump does not go into details, is guided by his impressions and has a loose grasp of facts and figures, as was evident in his joint press conference with Modi, where he spoke of the US having a $100 billion trade deficit with India; the actual figure is $45.6 billion. Similarly, he spoke of hundreds of years of India’s problems with Bangladesh—what he probably had in mind must be the legacy of the Islamic invasions that resulted in the creation of Pakistan.

A Remarkable Statement

It is remarkable that within less than a month of the new US administration being in power and key posts in the State Department not yet filled, India and the US could produce a substantive joint statement on the occasion of Modi’s visit. The document, which has many positive features, gives precedence to US priorities on defence and trade, but this is balanced by what India seeks in terms of continuation of the established areas of cooperation in technology, innovation, space, mineral security, etc.

In the White House readout of the telephonic call the two leaders had had earlier, Trump had already made it known that balancing trade relations and India buying more defence equipment from the US were his priorities. Accordingly, unlike in previous cases with the US, as well as with other countries, the paragraph on defence takes prime place in the joint statement, and this is followed by trade. Expansion of defence sales and co-production is envisaged to strengthen interoperability (a persistent US demand), with specific mention of the Stryker Infantry Combat Vehicle and the Javelin anti-tank guided missile, both of which have undergone trials in India. The completion of six additional P-8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft is also envisaged. The US seeks to sell the F-35 jet fighter to India. Without mentioning it by name, the joint statement refers to the US announcing a review of its policy on releasing fifth-generation fighters to India (which India may not want in view of the exorbitant acquisition and maintenance costs of this aircraft) , as well as undersea systems (which India wants).

The ‘ASIA’ Project

Another notable element in the joint statement is the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA), a new initiative to scale industry partnerships and production in the Indo-Pacific. This might suggest some cooperative arrangements within the Quad framework. Partnerships between Indian and US companies to co-produce an advanced AI-enabled Unmanned Aerial System and co-development of active towed array systems have been announced.

India has long asked for a review of US export controls, in particular, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which would include in-country repair and an overhaul of US-provided defence systems. It has also been decided to break new ground to support and sustain the overseas deployments of the US and Indian militaries in the Indo-Pacific, including enhanced logistics and intelligence sharing, as well as arrangements to improve force mobility for “security cooperation engagements”.

Special Focus On Cooperation

Then there’s the ‘US-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century’—to drive transformative change across key pillars of cooperation. To further advance defence ties, this year, a new ten-year framework for the ‘US-India Major Defense Partnership in the 21st Century’ will be signed.

The US and India have set a bold new goal for bilateral trade,’Mission 500′, aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. They plan to negotiate the first tranche of a multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025, which will increase market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration. India has got the US to welcome in the joint statement its recent measures to lower tariffs on US products in the areas of bourbon, motorcycles, ICT (information and communication technology) products, medical devices and metals, as well as measures to enhance market access for US agricultural products and vice-versa. The Indian side also got the US to welcome ongoing investments by Indian companies worth approximately $7.35 billion, which support over 3,000 high-quality jobs. Even so, the sword of tariffs on India has not been sheathed yet as Trump plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on April 1. In his joint press conference, he was quite brutally forthright on the issue of high Indian tariffs.

On Energy

Trump, with his slogan “Drill, baby, Drill” to become the world’s biggest hydrocarbon power, is determined to export US oil and gas to all destinations, including to India. He wants to establish the US as a leading supplier of crude oil and petroleum products and LNG to India. New Delhi will be open to this, but the scope will depend on increased US production—which will take time—the price factor, and alternative sources available to India.

Modi and Trump have re-committed to the US-India Energy Security Partnership, including in civil nuclear energy. Both sides would wish to pursue civilian nuclear cooperation, including in advanced small modular reactors, which, it is recognised, will be facilitated by amendments to India’s Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear damage Act. The hurdle in this would be US laws, which  allow only construction of US nuclear reactors and not technology transfer. Which is why the joint statement, while mentioning large scale localisation, only mentions “possible technology transfer”. For India, carrying forward the iCET project developed under the Biden administration on cooperation in emerging and critical technologies was most important. This project has been re-branded as US-India TRUST ‘Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technology’ initiative. As a central pillar of this programme, the U.S. and Indian private industry will develop a US.-India Roadmap on Accelerating AI Infrastructure by the end of the year. The Biden-era INDUS-X project has also been rebranded as INDUS Innovation, with the next summit slated for 2025. As part of the TRUST initiative, the two sides will build trusted and resilient supply chains, including for semiconductors, critical minerals, advanced materials and pharmaceuticals.

Critical Minerals

India and the US will accelerate collaboration in research and development and promote investment across the entire critical mineral value chain, through the Mineral Security Partnership as well, established during the Biden administration. To this end, the launch of the Strategic Mineral Recovery initiative, a new US-India programme to recover and process critical minerals (including lithium, cobalt, and rare earths) from heavy industries like aluminum, coal mining and oil and gas, was announced.

The year 2025 is also slated to be a pioneering one for US-India civil space cooperation, with plans for a NASA-ISRO effort to bring the first Indian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS), and early launch of the joint ‘NISAR’ mission, the first of its kind to systematically map changes to the Earth’s surface using dual radars.

The paragraph on the Indo-Pacific region and the Quad is somewhat perfunctory. The joint statement avoids any direct references to the China threat. However, ahead of hosting Trump in New Delhi for the Quad leaders’ summit, Modi and Trump will activate new Quad initiatives on shared airlift capacity to support civilian response to natural disasters and, significantly, maritime patrols to improve interoperability. In the joint statement, the US has appreciated India’s role as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region. 

The IMEC Corridor

Significantly, the two leaders also want to push forward the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor and the I2U2 Group within the next six months and will announce new initiatives in 2025. This is ambitious, given the fallout of the Gaza conflict on Israel’s position in the Arab world. The intention to build new plurilateral anchor partnerships in the Western Indian Ocean, Middle East, and Indo-Pacific in defence, technology, energy and critical minerals, which Modi and Trump will expect to announce by fall of 2025, is intriguing in so far as the Indo-Pacific is concerned, as the plurilateral anchor partnership already exists there in the form of the Quad. On the ongoing controversy in the US about H1B visas, India has highlighted in the joint statement some positive aspects of people-to-people ties, noting that the more than 3-lakh-strong Indian student community contributes over $8 billion annually to the US economy. The joint statement recognises that the talent flow and movement of students, researchers and employees has mutually benefited both countries.

Surprisingly, given the mood in the US, both leaders have emphasised that the evolution of the world into a global workplace calls for putting in place innovative, mutually advantageous and secure mobility frameworks. In this regard, the leaders committed to streamlining avenues for legal mobility of students and professionals, while also aggressively addressing illegal immigration and human trafficking. The reference, in this context, to other elements who threaten public and diplomatic safety and security, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both nations could be seen as an indirect reference to Khalistani groups.

Notably, the joint statement contains no reference to the Ukraine conflict or that in Gaza, though on Ukraine, Modi, in the joint press conference, supported Trump’s moved to end the conflict.

All in all, Modi’s visit has been productive beyond expectations.

(Kanwal Sibal was Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to Turkey, Egypt, France and Russia, and Deputy Chief Of Mission in Washington.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US has proved to be well-timed. Rather than wait for the mercurial and unpredictable President Donald Trump to say and do things on his pet peeves, which include an obsession with tariffs, Modi took the initiative to engage him directly on exploring together how his concerns could be met—and India’s too—in a constructive way.

It was a pre-emptive move by Modi, aimed at setting up at the earliest the tone of India-US bilateral ties during Trump’s second presidency. Modi has gambled on the personal chemistry that he had established with Trump during his first term to make the visit and not let uncertainties cloud the existing positive atmosphere surrounding India-US relations.

Friends Inside 

India could rely on the many Indian friends amongst the appointees to the second Trump administration—such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, and the director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard—to adequately cushion the ties from the unpredictable shocks that Trump could potentially administer. Trump, supremely self-confident in his second term, believes that he has the measure of all America’s problems and is determined to use US power to get his way at the international level. It seems that he will listen to his advisors only to the extent that they support his thinking. This is positive in some ways, such as his desire to end the war in Ukraine, and highly negative in some other ways, such as his recipe for turning Gaza into a ‘Riviera’, ignoring the terrible human cost inflicted on its 2-million-plus inhabitants.

It is in this context that an early Modi visit and a personal contact with Trump was an astute move. It is apparent that Trump does not go into details, is guided by his impressions and has a loose grasp of facts and figures, as was evident in his joint press conference with Modi, where he spoke of the US having a $100 billion trade deficit with India; the actual figure is $45.6 billion. Similarly, he spoke of hundreds of years of India’s problems with Bangladesh—what he probably had in mind must be the legacy of the Islamic invasions that resulted in the creation of Pakistan.

A Remarkable Statement

It is remarkable that within less than a month of the new US administration being in power and key posts in the State Department not yet filled, India and the US could produce a substantive joint statement on the occasion of Modi’s visit. The document, which has many positive features, gives precedence to US priorities on defence and trade, but this is balanced by what India seeks in terms of continuation of the established areas of cooperation in technology, innovation, space, mineral security, etc.

In the White House readout of the telephonic call the two leaders had had earlier, Trump had already made it known that balancing trade relations and India buying more defence equipment from the US were his priorities. Accordingly, unlike in previous cases with the US, as well as with other countries, the paragraph on defence takes prime place in the joint statement, and this is followed by trade. Expansion of defence sales and co-production is envisaged to strengthen interoperability (a persistent US demand), with specific mention of the Stryker Infantry Combat Vehicle and the Javelin anti-tank guided missile, both of which have undergone trials in India. The completion of six additional P-8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft is also envisaged. The US seeks to sell the F-35 jet fighter to India. Without mentioning it by name, the joint statement refers to the US announcing a review of its policy on releasing fifth-generation fighters to India (which India may not want in view of the exorbitant acquisition and maintenance costs of this aircraft) , as well as undersea systems (which India wants).

The ‘ASIA’ Project

Another notable element in the joint statement is the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA), a new initiative to scale industry partnerships and production in the Indo-Pacific. This might suggest some cooperative arrangements within the Quad framework. Partnerships between Indian and US companies to co-produce an advanced AI-enabled Unmanned Aerial System and co-development of active towed array systems have been announced.

India has long asked for a review of US export controls, in particular, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which would include in-country repair and an overhaul of US-provided defence systems. It has also been decided to break new ground to support and sustain the overseas deployments of the US and Indian militaries in the Indo-Pacific, including enhanced logistics and intelligence sharing, as well as arrangements to improve force mobility for “security cooperation engagements”.

Special Focus On Cooperation

Then there’s the ‘US-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century’—to drive transformative change across key pillars of cooperation. To further advance defence ties, this year, a new ten-year framework for the ‘US-India Major Defense Partnership in the 21st Century’ will be signed.

The US and India have set a bold new goal for bilateral trade,’Mission 500′, aiming to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. They plan to negotiate the first tranche of a multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by fall of 2025, which will increase market access, reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepen supply chain integration. India has got the US to welcome in the joint statement its recent measures to lower tariffs on US products in the areas of bourbon, motorcycles, ICT (information and communication technology) products, medical devices and metals, as well as measures to enhance market access for US agricultural products and vice-versa. The Indian side also got the US to welcome ongoing investments by Indian companies worth approximately $7.35 billion, which support over 3,000 high-quality jobs. Even so, the sword of tariffs on India has not been sheathed yet as Trump plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on April 1. In his joint press conference, he was quite brutally forthright on the issue of high Indian tariffs.

On Energy

Trump, with his slogan “Drill, baby, Drill” to become the world’s biggest hydrocarbon power, is determined to export US oil and gas to all destinations, including to India. He wants to establish the US as a leading supplier of crude oil and petroleum products and LNG to India. New Delhi will be open to this, but the scope will depend on increased US production—which will take time—the price factor, and alternative sources available to India.

Modi and Trump have re-committed to the US-India Energy Security Partnership, including in civil nuclear energy. Both sides would wish to pursue civilian nuclear cooperation, including in advanced small modular reactors, which, it is recognised, will be facilitated by amendments to India’s Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear damage Act. The hurdle in this would be US laws, which  allow only construction of US nuclear reactors and not technology transfer. Which is why the joint statement, while mentioning large scale localisation, only mentions “possible technology transfer”. For India, carrying forward the iCET project developed under the Biden administration on cooperation in emerging and critical technologies was most important. This project has been re-branded as US-India TRUST ‘Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technology’ initiative. As a central pillar of this programme, the U.S. and Indian private industry will develop a US.-India Roadmap on Accelerating AI Infrastructure by the end of the year. The Biden-era INDUS-X project has also been rebranded as INDUS Innovation, with the next summit slated for 2025. As part of the TRUST initiative, the two sides will build trusted and resilient supply chains, including for semiconductors, critical minerals, advanced materials and pharmaceuticals.

Critical Minerals

India and the US will accelerate collaboration in research and development and promote investment across the entire critical mineral value chain, through the Mineral Security Partnership as well, established during the Biden administration. To this end, the launch of the Strategic Mineral Recovery initiative, a new US-India programme to recover and process critical minerals (including lithium, cobalt, and rare earths) from heavy industries like aluminum, coal mining and oil and gas, was announced.

The year 2025 is also slated to be a pioneering one for US-India civil space cooperation, with plans for a NASA-ISRO effort to bring the first Indian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS), and early launch of the joint ‘NISAR’ mission, the first of its kind to systematically map changes to the Earth’s surface using dual radars.

The paragraph on the Indo-Pacific region and the Quad is somewhat perfunctory. The joint statement avoids any direct references to the China threat. However, ahead of hosting Trump in New Delhi for the Quad leaders’ summit, Modi and Trump will activate new Quad initiatives on shared airlift capacity to support civilian response to natural disasters and, significantly, maritime patrols to improve interoperability. In the joint statement, the US has appreciated India’s role as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region. 

The IMEC Corridor

Significantly, the two leaders also want to push forward the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor and the I2U2 Group within the next six months and will announce new initiatives in 2025. This is ambitious, given the fallout of the Gaza conflict on Israel’s position in the Arab world. The intention to build new plurilateral anchor partnerships in the Western Indian Ocean, Middle East, and Indo-Pacific in defence, technology, energy and critical minerals, which Modi and Trump will expect to announce by fall of 2025, is intriguing in so far as the Indo-Pacific is concerned, as the plurilateral anchor partnership already exists there in the form of the Quad. On the ongoing controversy in the US about H1B visas, India has highlighted in the joint statement some positive aspects of people-to-people ties, noting that the more than 3-lakh-strong Indian student community contributes over $8 billion annually to the US economy. The joint statement recognises that the talent flow and movement of students, researchers and employees has mutually benefited both countries.

Surprisingly, given the mood in the US, both leaders have emphasised that the evolution of the world into a global workplace calls for putting in place innovative, mutually advantageous and secure mobility frameworks. In this regard, the leaders committed to streamlining avenues for legal mobility of students and professionals, while also aggressively addressing illegal immigration and human trafficking. The reference, in this context, to other elements who threaten public and diplomatic safety and security, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both nations could be seen as an indirect reference to Khalistani groups.

Notably, the joint statement contains no reference to the Ukraine conflict or that in Gaza, though on Ukraine, Modi, in the joint press conference, supported Trump’s moved to end the conflict.

All in all, Modi’s visit has been productive beyond expectations.

(Kanwal Sibal was Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to Turkey, Egypt, France and Russia, and Deputy Chief Of Mission in Washington.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a joint press statement with U.S. President Donald Trump after their meeting at the White House, in Washington, DC on Thursday.
| Photo Credit:
REUTERS

India and the U.S. have decided to take a big leap in broad-basing their strategic ties in several critical areas, with President Donald Trump announcing after talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Washington is paving the way to provide New Delhi with F-35 fighter jets as part of increasing military supplies by billions of dollars. 

Read: Highlights from day 1 of the meeting

After holding wide-ranging talks with Mr. Modi, Mr. Trump said there is a “special bond” between the world’s oldest and largest democracies and both sides decided to shore up cooperation in diverse areas such as energy, critical technologies and connectivity. 

On the contentious issue of tariff, the U.S. President said Washington wants a level playing field.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump in the first bilateral talks between the two leaders after Mr. Trump assumed the presidency for a second term last month. PM Modi arrived in Washington on a two-day visit to hold high-stakes talks with the U.S. President.

Also Read | Trump order on reciprocal tariffs expected before meeting with PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the series of bilateral interactions by meeting U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Thursday (February 13, 2025). He also met with billionaires Elon Musk and Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at Blaire House.

PM Modi is staying at the Blair House, the U.S. presidential guest house at the heart of the American capital city.

Also read | Trump administration prioritising relations with India: White House

Follow the live updates here

US President Donald Trump and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

US President Donald Trump announced plans to firm up “some wonderful trade deals” for India and the US as he hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for wide-ranging talks focussing on charting a new pathway for broadening the bilateral partnership, including in the areas of defence, energy, and critical technology.

PM Narendra Modi U.S. visit LIVE updates

At his Oval Office on Thursday, Trump welcomed Modi with a long handshake and a warm hug while describing the prime minister as a “great friend” for a long time.

The two leaders made brief statements to the media and answered a number of questions before settling down for the crucial talks, hours after the American President announced a new reciprocal tariff policy for all the trading partners of the US.

“We are going to work with India also. We have separate big trade deals to announce in the very near future,” Trump said while talking about his administration’s trade policy.

“We are going to make some wonderful trade deals for India and for the US,” he said replying to a question.

In his remarks, Modi congratulated Trump for becoming the president for a second term and recalled the upward trajectory of India-US relations during the American leader’s first stint at the White House.

“I firmly believe that in your second term, we will work with more speed,” Modi said.

“President Trump always keeps the national interest of the US supreme and like him, I also keep the national interest of India at top of everything else,” he added.

In his remarks, the US President said: “We have some very big things to talk about; they (India) are going to be purchasing a lot of our oil and gas (from the US).” “We have more oil and gas than any other country in the world and they (India) need it, and we have it,” he said.

“He is doing a great job in India and he (PM Modi) and I share a great friendship and we will continue to build on ties between our nations,” Trump added.

The Prime Minister and the President also answered questions on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“I support Donald Trump’s efforts towards finding a possible solution to end the war. The world somehow feels India has been neutral during the war. But I would like to reiterate that India has not been neutral. In fact, India has been on the side of peace,” Modi said.

“When I met President Putin, I had even said that ‘this is not the era for war’. I had also said that solutions cannot be found in the battlefield. They can only come when all parties sit at the table for dialogue,” he added.

Before meeting Trump, Prime Minister Modi held separate talks with US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, billionaire Elon Musk and Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy.

Modi kicked off his two-day visit to Washington DC on Wednesday evening (Thursday morning India time) after concluding his trip to France.

Ahead of the Modi-Trump meeting, diplomatic sources indicated that the focus of the talks will be on enhancing cooperation in areas of defence, energy, technology, infrastructure, and trade.

The Trump administration is particularly keen on expanding Washington’s defence sales to India and the two sides may broadly finalise a couple of deals, including co-production of Stryker armoured fighting vehicles in India.

Besides defence, trade is another high priority area in the deliberations between the two leaders. The reciprocal tariff policy is expected to have some impact on India’s trade with US also.

Two days back, Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on global steel and aluminium imports into the US. The move is expected to hit the Indian firms exporting steel and aluminium to the US.

India has already indicated its readiness to adopt a more conciliatory approach on the sensitive issue unlike its hardline approach during Trump’s first term.

People closely tracking India-US ties said there is a possibility of both sides exploring the option of looking at a trade pact to avoid high tariffs and expand the overall trade basket.

The bilateral trade between India and the US was around USD 130 billion last year.

The prime minister’s visit to the American capital comes days after the Trump administration deported 104 Indians in handcuffs and shackles in a military aircraft that sparked outrage in India.

Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Parliament that New Delhi is in touch with the US to ensure that returning Indian deportees are not mistreated in any manner.

Washington DC:

US President Donald Trump welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the West Wing lobby in the White House in Washington, DC on Thursday (local time). The two leaders shared a warm hug as they greeted each other.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff shared a picture of PM Modi and Donald Trump on X. While sharing the picture on X, Dan Scavino stated, “Behind Scenes in the West Wing lobby — @POTUS Trump welcomes Prime Minister @NarendraModi of India to the @WhiteHouse.”

The Indian delegation including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and India’s Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra arrived at the White House soon after PM Modi’s arrival.

Ahead of PM Modi’s arrival, Indian flags were being put up at the White House. The Prime Minister is among the first few world leaders to visit the United States following President Trump’s inauguration. He has been invited to visit within three weeks of the new administration taking office.

Since November 2024, PM Modi and Donald Trump have spoken on the phone twice. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the inauguration ceremony of President Donald Trump as PM Modi’s Special Envoy. During the visit, EAM Jaishankar also met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and participated in the QUAD Foreign Ministers’ meeting in January 2025.

Ahead of his meeting with President Trump at the White House, PM Modi held bilateral meetings with US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard.

Earlier, a mobile billboard advertising truck in Washington, DC, displayed boards featuring pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump and a message that reads, “Paving the Path for Progress, US-India Alliance in Developing Skilled Workforce” and “Pillars of Friendship, Pathways of Progress.”

PM Modi arrived in the US after concluding his three-day visit to France. During his visit to France, PM Modi met with US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday (local time).

Following the meeting, the two leaders, along with the Second Lady of the United States, Usha Vance, enjoyed coffee together. PM Modi also took the opportunity to share gifts with the Vance children and wished the Vice President’s son, Vivek, a happy birthday, according to the White House statement.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington DC:

Shortly after announcing sweeping reciprocal tariffs which will impact all nations which impose tariffs on US goods, Donald Trump spoke about how India is “right at the top of the pack” when it comes to tariffs. President Trump’s remarks come hours before his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during which the two leaders will discuss the entire gamut of India-US ties. Tariffs will figure high on the agenda.

Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office after making the announcement for reciprocal tariffs, President Trump said “allies are often worse than enemies” and said the US will now impose a tit-for tat tariff on all nations which imposes tariffs on US goods.

President Trump said “India charges tremendously high tariffs”. He recalled how “Harley Davidson couldn’t sell their motorbikes in India because of the fact that in India – the tariff was so high.”

He went on to say that “Harley was forced to build… But I think they built a factory in India in order to avoid paying the tariffs. And that’s what people can do with us too.” The President, who has called ‘tariffs’ his favourite word in the dictionary on multiple occasions, aims to follow this model of trade aiming to “make America great again”.

He said companies that wish to sell their products in the US would need to set up factories and industries in the United States to avoid steep tariffs. “They can build a factory here, a plant or whatever it may be here and that includes the medical, that includes cars, that includes chips and semiconductors,” he said.

Earlier in the day, tech billionaire and Donald Trump’s biggest supporter and confidant Elon Musk and his family met PM Modi. Musk, who is the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has been contemplating bringing his business to India. He has made announcements about it in the past, but has not yet started his factories in India.

Speaking about Elon Musk, President Trump said, “They met. I assume he wants to do business in India. But India is a very hard place to do business in because of the tariffs,” adding that “I would imagine he met possibly because he is running a company, he is doing this as something that he has felt strongly about for a long time.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the US on a two-day official visit. He will be holding bilateral talks with US President Donald Trump. While the two leaders will discuss the entire gamut of India-US ties, tariffs, visas, and immigration will be key focus areas.

Days before PM Modi’s visit to the US, India, in the Union Budget presented in Parliament on February 1, significantly reduced customs duties on high-end motorcycles, cars and smartphone parts – a move which will give a big boost to American companies like Harley-Davidson, Tesla and Apple.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, however, made it clear that custom duty rationalisation was introduced in the Budget to ensure Indian economy become aatmanirbhar (self-reliant), and is not a signal amid Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.

“We are looking at our own economy. We are looking to strengthen the foundation of the Indian economy, to make it a manufacturing hub,” she said while speaking exclusively to NDTV’s Sanjay Pugalia.
 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington on Wednesday evening (early Thursday Indian time, February 13, 2025) for bilateral talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, presumably with the objective of managing the relationship with the newly re-elected President, whose style revolves around an ‘America First’ ethos and a trademark unpredictability.

Mr. Modi, who flew into Washington after a visit to France, is one of the early visitors – the fourth foreign leader- to visit the White House since Mr. Trump returned to power on January 20.

PM Narendra Modi U.S. visit Day 1 LIVE updates

Tariffs, trade in defence and energy, immigration, and the Indo-Pacific are on the menu for Thursday’s bilateral discussions at the White House. The days and hours in the run up to the meeting were not without drama. Last week, the government faced flack in Parliament after the Trump administration deported 104 Indian citizens to India, shackling many of them.

On Thursday afternoon Mr. Trump signed an executive order on reciprocal tariffs, three hours before the meeting with the Prime Minister. Mr. Trump has already shocked the world by reinstating 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium, imposing tariffs on China, announcing – and then pausing – tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

The government had announced some tariff reductions and elimination as part of the Union Budget on February 1, including high-end motorcycles (impacting Harley-Davidson bikes from the U.S. ), textiles and electronics. Reports also suggest that India is considering tariff cuts on other U.S. imports.

These steps were “well received” by the Trump administration, a senior White House official said, calling them “early but modest” moves. The official was one of several who spoke to reporters on a Thursday morning briefing call.

Possible announcement on trade deal and new defence framework

The official suggested that there would be an announcement around what they described as a “fair” bilateral trade agreement between India and the U.S. in 2025. Mr. Trump views countries that have trade surpluses with America as taking advantage of the U.S.

Asked about the future of the India-U.S. Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET), a broad framework technology partnership signed by the Modi government and Biden administration, the official said he expected technology collaboration to continue under the Trump administration, emphasising supply chain resilience and diversification, semiconductors and critical minerals.

On energy, another White House official said the U.S. “will prioritise India as a key importer of America’s natural resources”.

India was designated a Major Defence Partner of the U.S. in 2016, during the first Trump administration and the two sides are “moving towards signing a new defence framework” one of the officials said. The U.S. was discussing new defence procurement, the official added, linking this to bringing down the trade deficit.

On whether Mr. Trump would raise the issue of an alleged Indian government plot to kill an India-born Khalistani separatist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is a U.S. citizen, an official said that Mr. Trump “prioritises nothing more than the safety of every American, and that is the continued position of this administration”. They cited the release of an American hostage from Russia days ago.

On whether there was a role for India in ending the Russia-Ukraine war, one of the officials cited India’s diplomatic relationships and said that Mr. Trump would welcome conversations with Mr. Modi and others on how to bring peace in Europe. Cooperation on China is expected to continue, the officials said along the lines seen during the first Trump administration and the Biden administration.

U.S-India Partnership a foundational element of Trump administration: U.S. official

Echoing the words of the Biden administration, one of the officials described the India-U.S. bilateral partnership as “one of the most critical, if not the most critical” bilateral relationship in the 21^st Century.

“I can assure you, to ensure that that remains a foundational element moving forward in this term,” they said.

Prior to the talks, the Prime Minister, who is staying at Blair House, where the President often hosts guests, had meetings with key Trump allies and officials. Mr. Modi met with U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, Trump ally and former Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy and Trump donor and ‘special government employee’, Elon Musk.

Shortly after he arrived, Mr. Modi met with Tulsi Gabbard, who had just been sworn is as Director of National Intelligence.

“There is strong potential for cooperation in sectors like AI, semiconductors, space and more,” Mr. Modi tweeted after his conversation with Mr. Waltz, which focused on defence, technology and security, as per the Prime Minister.

With Mr. Musk, the Prime Minister said he had discussed innovation, space, mobility and technology. He posted pictures with some of the Musk children.

In recent days reports have suggested that the two men were to discuss Mr. Musk’s satellite company Starlink’s entry into India. The company had run up against Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio on spectrum allocation issues.

“I talked about India’s efforts towards reform and furthering ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’,” Mr Modi said on X, the social media site owned by Mr. Musk. The tech billionaire is currently in the midst of a controversial reorganization and shrinking of the U.S. federal government as the head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Washington:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US marks a significant milestone in the strengthening of ties between the two nations. This “official working visit” makes Mr Modi the fourth foreign leader to be hosted by the White House since President Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025. Notably, this is the earliest visit by an Indian Prime Minister in the presidency of any US President in the near past.

Considering how the India-US relationship might pan out with Mr Trump being fickle, John Lipinski, director of elections at NBC News, said that Mr Trump focussed a lot on the ‘America First’ campaign and similarly he is focussing on economic issues, particularly trade, and immigration issues for the same reason. He added that these issues are going to be very consequential for India.

He also said that although India is an ally, Mr Trump’s behaviour has been seen as “out of portfolio” with allies too, considering how even a strong relationship with Canada could not save the latter from tariffs and even on the immigration front. He said that “Trump wants concessions, and he wants concessions from friends”.

Anirudh Suri of India Internet Fund said that since a lot of advisors of Mr Trump’s second administration are not DC based, “Economic interest arising out of, let’s say, Silicon Valley and other corporations in the US will play a very different role in determining policy towards India versus what we had seen in the Biden administration where the DC policy crew was driving the India relationship.” He also added that this time, the relationship will hold commercial value strongly from the US side as well, “We know that president Trump is very keen that India buy more military equipment from The United States, and that’s going to be a big aspect, looking at China as well.”

Overall, Mr Modi’s visit to the US is a significant opportunity for the two nations to strengthen their ties and address key issues in their bilateral relationship. With the visit taking place early in Mr Trump’s presidency, it is primarily about reaffirming relations with the US, rather than addressing long-term fissures in the relationship.
 

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with US President Donald Trump today amid the US President’s fresh moves on tariffs less than a month after he took charge of the world’s largest economy. PM Modi will meet Elon Musk too.

Washington:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently arrived in Washington, D.C. for a highly anticipated two-day visit to the United States. This significant trip marks his first visit to the U.S. since Donald Trump’s inauguration. Upon landing, Mr Modi was warmly greeted by members of the Indian diaspora who had gathered outside the Blair House to catch a glimpse of the Indian leader.

The excitement was palpable, with one young fan even donning a special “Made in India” dress to meet Mr Modi. The Indian diaspora in the U.S. is eager to see Mr Modi address pressing issues affecting their community, particularly those related to immigration. Many Indians in the U.S. are concerned about the renewal of work visas, since the possible termination of automatic work visa extensions may make it harder for skilled Indian workers to preserve legal status and continue employment.

In light of the ongoing tariff hike and illegal migrant issues, Mr Modi’s visit is seen as crucial in addressing these concerns. NDTV spoke with members of the Indian diaspora in the U.S. to gather their thoughts on what they expect from Mr Modi’s visit. The community’s expectations are high, with many hoping for clarity on immigration policies and stronger ties between India and the U.S.

During his visit, Mr Modi is expected to engage in discussions with U.S. leaders on a range of topics, including trade, defense, investment and technology. The visit is seen as an opportunity for India and the U.S. to deepen their cooperation and address common challenges. As Mr Modi navigates these complex issues, the Indian diaspora in the U.S. will be watching closely, hoping for positive outcomes that will benefit their community and strengthen ties between the two nations.