Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands as they deliver a joint press statement after their meeting at the White House, in Washington, DC on Thursday, February 13, 2025
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. government’s move to impose reciprocal tariffs to match higher duties levied by its trading partners is not likely to hurt India much as there are differences in the export profiles of the two countries, economic think tank GTRI said on Friday (February 14, 2025).

Citing an example, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that if the U.S. charges 50% reciprocal tariffs on Indian pistachios because India charges the same, India is happy as it does not export pistachios.

Additionally, for 75% value of the U.S. exports to India, the average tariff is less than 5%, GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said.

In contrast, India faces high U.S. tariffs on many labour-intensive goods like textiles, garments, and footwear, ranging between 15-35% on several products, he added.

“Given the differences in the export profiles of the two countries, reciprocal tariffs may not have a significant impact…In the new Trump era, India may wait to see the US decision in April on reciprocal tariffs and then respond in equal measures as we did in June 2019,” Mr. Srivastava said.

After talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that India will buy more oil, gas and military hardware from America to bring down the trade deficit but asserted that Washington will not spare New Delhi from reciprocal tariffs.

On the trade deal, he said though the details are not yet clear, it could be a limited deal on reciprocal tariffs, expected to be announced in April.

The U.S. has already announced non-reciprocal tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminium.

“This is also not the best time for an FTA (free trade agreement) or full trade agreement as the U.S. does not respect FTAs. An example is how the Trump administration has imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada on steel and aluminium in violation of USMCA (US Mexico Canada) provisions,” Mr. Srivastava said.

The GTRI also said that the U.S. is not clear if the reciprocal tariff applies to specific products or entire sectors.

A White House fact sheet dated February 13 said, “The U.S. average applied Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff on agricultural goods is 5%. But India’s average applied MFN tariff is 39%. India also charges a 100% tariff on U.S. motorcycles, while we only charge a 2.4% tariff on Indian motorcycles.” On this, Mr. Srivastava said that the U.S. must choose a criteria – product or sector – for transparent decision making, else all the US efforts on MFN tariff cuts will end up benefiting China as China is the largest global supplier of industrial goods.

During April-November 2024-25, the U.S. was the second largest trading partner of India with $82.52 billion bilateral trade in goods ($52.89 billion worth of exports, $29.63 billion of imports and $23.26 billion trade surplus).

During 2021-24, America was the largest trading partner of India. The U.S. is one of the few countries with which India has a trade surplus.

In 2023-24, the U.S. was the largest trading partner of India with $119.71 billion bilateral trade in goods ($77.51 billion worth of exports, $42.19 billion of imports and $35.31 billion trade surplus).

Screengrab of spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan briefing the press on February 14, 2025
| Photo Credit: Youtube/ForeignOfficePk

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan in a press briefing on Friday (February 14, 2025) expressed concern at the proposed transfer of U.S. military technology to India.

This comment comes following the release of the “India-U.S. joint statement’’ after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s U.S. visit and meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. The statement highlights the defence partnership between India and U.S. spanning multiple domains.

India and the U.S. planned to elevate military cooperation across all domains – air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace – through enhanced training, exercises, and operations, incorporating the latest technologies, the statement said.

Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has stated that the increase military capacity may cause imbalance in the region

In the joint statement, India and the U.S. called 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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson mentioned that the reference to Pakistan in the joint statement was one-sided, misleading, and contrary to diplomatic norms. He alleged that the statement cannot cover up India’s role in sponsoring terrorism, and extra-judicial killings. The spokesperson also remarked on rising hate crimes in India against Muslims and other minorities and also to India’s non-compliance to U.N. Security Council resolutions.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, wanted by Indian probe agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, “to face justice in India”.

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.
 

Kalaburagi (Karnataka):

Raising concerns over the inhumane treatment of Indian migrants deported from the US, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have called his ‘old friend’, US President Donald Trump, and asked him not to send them back in such a manner.

Modi will pay a two-day working visit to the US starting Wednesday and hold a bilateral meeting with President Trump.

“Modi did not receive an invitation initially. However, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar went to the US and made arrangements, after which Modi received an invitation and is now visiting,” claimed Kharge, while speaking to reporters in Kalaburagi and wondered whether it would be a ‘success’ meet.

“Modi himself has claimed that he has been conversing with his ‘old friend’ (Trump), which he says will benefit the country. But if they were indeed close friends, Modi should have asked Trump over the phone not to deport Indian migrant labourers in such a manner,” the Congress chief said.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha alleged that Indian migrants were brought back to India in a cargo plane and “treated worse than garbage”.

Modi did not ask Trump to send these migrants on a passenger flight, nor did he arrange one from India, which proves that his claim of a close friendship was false,” the Congress president said.

He added that while personal friendships are fine, it is more important for countries to maintain friendly relations. He argued that people may know each other personally but may not necessarily show concern for India’s interests.

“Modi speaks with confidence, but he also has a habit of lying. Hence, he will not get good results,” said Kharge.

India on February 7 registered concerns with the US over the deportation of illegal immigrants in shackles and conveyed that this kind of treatment could have been avoided.

The remarks of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri came amid uproar over the deportation of illegal Indian immigrants by the US in handcuffs during their 40-hour flight onboard a military aircraft.

Kharge also pointed out that Trump has threatened to increase tariffs on imported goods and warned that he would impose taxes on countries that have raised tariffs on American products. 

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

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets the Indian diaspora at Nassau Coliseum arena, in New York on Sunday, September 22, 2024. After the event, Mr. Modi met Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in a roundtable with the CEOs of leading American companies, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, to enhance cooperation between India and the US in cutting-edge technologies such as AI, quantum computing and semiconductors.

Also read: Joe Biden hails PM Modi’s Ukraine trip, lauds India’s global role

The meeting took place at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel on Sunday (September 22, 2024) during the second leg of Mr. Modi’s three-day US visit.

The Prime Minister participated in the roundtable with CEOs of US-based firms working on cutting-edge technologies such as AI, quantum computing and semiconductors.

Among those he met include Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Modi also addressed the Indian diaspora at the packed Nassau Veterans Coliseum on Long Island in New York.

The Prime Minister reached New York on Sunday after attending the Quad Leaders’ Summit hosted by President Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday.

U.S. President Joe Biden bids farewell to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he departs after the Quad leaders summit in Claymont, Delaware, U.S., September 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. and India plan to elevate bilateral technical, financial, and policy support to expand complementary manufacturing capacity for building on existing clean energy cooperation between the two nations, according to the White House.

The announcement on Saturday (September 21, 2024) came after the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden at Greenville, Delaware.

Prime Minister Modi is in the U.S. on a three-day visit.

Follow PM Modi in U.S. LIVE updates

To launch the partnership for establishing a “shared, resilient, and cutting-edge techno-industrial base” centred on innovative clean energy manufacturing techniques, the U.S. and India are “working to unlock $1 billion in new multilateral finance through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for projects, including catalysing India’s domestic clean energy supply chain buildout”, the White House said in a statement.

The partnership will look to expand complementary U.S. and Indian manufacturing capacity for clean energy technologies and components and lay the groundwork for enhanced cooperation in third countries, with a focus on partnerships in Africa.

This effort will build on existing clean energy cooperation between the U.S. and India, including clean energy initiatives launched during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the U.S. in 2023, and the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership led by the U.S. Department of Energy and Government of India ministries, among other initiatives.

The U.S.-India partnership “sets a strong example for the world and positions our countries to lead clean economic development in the 21st century,” the statement said.

“The United States and India share an enduring commitment to deepen our collaboration on issues of shared national and economic security. As an important aspect of our economic growth agendas, we are committed to working together to capture the benefits of the clean energy transition, including the creation of high-quality jobs for our populations, acceleration of clean energy deployment globally, and achievement of global climate goals,” it said.

Also Read | Our message is clear, Quad is here to stay: PM Modi at Leaders’ Summit

“Over time, we seek to mobilise additional financing into priority clean energy manufacturing sectors that harness public and private financial tools and pioneer innovative financial vehicles to meet the rapid demand for flexible climate finance solutions,” said the White House.

Noting that the United States and India intend to work with relevant government agencies, civil society and the private sector to identify a package of pilot projects across the clean energy value chain, it said that the two nations also pledge to work with industry leaders on the following lines of effort to launch and eventually scale this new partnership.

At the Quad summit, new projects will be announced like a Coast Guard exercise and an initiative to fight cancer, called the Cancer Moonshot project, among others. “The U.S. Coast Guard will welcome Indian, Australian and Japanese coast guards on board its vessel in the Indo-Pacific, with other countries then taking turns to host,” a Biden administration official said, during a briefing call with reporters on Friday (September 20, 2024).

A Quad logistics network will be launched that allows for sharing cargo space on vessels and aircraft for humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) missions.

Read the whole story here

Indian Coast Guard and Japan Coast Guard ships line up during a joint exercise. The U.S. Coast Guard will welcome Indian, Australian and Japanese coast guards on board its vessel in the Indo Pacific, with other countries then taking turns to host, a Biden administration official said
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

A Coast Guard exercise and an initiative to fight cancer will be among the new projects announced at the Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) on Saturday (September 21, 2024), when U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leaders of Australia and Japan.

PM Modi in U.S. LIVE Updates – September 21, 2024

The U.S. Coast Guard will welcome Indian, Australian and Japanese coast guards on board its vessel in the Indo Pacific, with other countries then taking turns to host, a Biden administration official said, during a briefing call with reporters on Friday (September 20, 2024).

In the context of China, the briefing official emphasized that the Quad continues to be defined “as a partnership, not a military alliance of any kind”. Earlier this week, White House spokesperson John Kirby had described as being “high” on the agenda for Saturday’s summit.

Nevertheless, China along with other countries, like DPRK (North Korea) will be discussed and the Summit’s joint statement will contain “some of the strongest language” to date on the South China Sea and with regard to North Korea, the official said.

On the joint exercises by the coast guards of Quad members, the official said it was not to be seen as a red flag but consistent with the Quad’s goal of “reinforcing peace and stability and the continuity of international law”.

The ‘Cancer Moonshot’ — a pet project of Mr Biden, who lost an adult son to brain cancer in 2015, will involve screening, vaccines and treatment, supported by donations from all four Quad partners, a senior administration official told reporters on the eve of the summit.

The Summit will also announce that the Quad fellowship , a program launched in 2021 to bring STEM graduate students from Quad countries to the U.S. for further study, is officially being expanded to include students from South East Asian countries.

Along with the Coast Guard exercise, a Quad logistics network will be launched that allows for sharing cargo space on vessels and aircraft for humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) missions. The outcomes will also involve Open RAN (radio access networks) pilots in the Pacific Islands and South East Asia.

The Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) , a program to monitor the marine environment for unregulated fishing and humanitarian disasters , will be expanded to cover the Indian Ocean region, under India’s leadership, a Biden administration official said. This expansion will include new training programs and the deployment of new technology. The program has been conducting pilot exercises in the region.

Washington:

The White House today met with a group of Sikhs who are sympathisers for the Khalistan movement hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to land in the United States for a three-day official visit. The White House assured them “protection from any transnational aggression on its soil”.

The White House said it is committed to “protecting American Citizens” from harm while they are within the borders of the United States.

This development comes amid concerns that Canada and the US are giving shelter and asylum to Khalistani separatists.

Groups aligned to the Khalistan separatist movement are banned in India and several of these organisations have carried out terrorist activities in the last few decades.

While the US has not made any official comment on “giving shelter” to such elements, Canada had called it their “freedom of speech”.

In response, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said, “India respects and practices freedom of speech, but freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom to support separatism. It does not equate with freedom to threaten foreign diplomats or allow political space to elements advocating violence.”

“In any rule-based society, you would imagine that you would check people’s background, how they came, what passports they carried etc,” he had said.

“If you have people whose presence there was itself on very dubious documents, what does it say about you? It actually says that your vote-bank actually is more powerful than your rule of law,” Mr Jaishankar had said.

THE WHITE HOUSE MEETING

The meeting at White House took place hours before PM Modi was to land in the US to attend the Quad summit in Delaware and to address the ‘Summit of the Future’ event at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The meeting was held within the official White House complex and was attended by Pritpal Singh of the American Sikh Caucus Committee and representatives from the Sikh Coalition and Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund (SALDEF).

“Yesterday we had the chance to thank senior federal government officials for saving the lives of Sikh Americans and for vigilance in protecting our community. We asked them to do more, and we will hold them to their assurances that they will,” Pritpal Singh, founder of the American Sikh Caucus Committee told Press Trust of India.

In a social media post on X, Pritpal Singh thanked the US officials for their vigilance in protecting Sikh Americans.”

“We will hold them to their assurances to do more to safeguard our community. Freedom and justice must prevail,” he said.

This is the first time that the US National Security Council has held a meeting with Sikh separatists. No other details of the meeting are available yet.

What comes as a surprise is that the meeting was initiated by the White House.

US BRINGS NEW BILL

Earlier this week, US Congressman Adam Schiff introduced the ‘Transnational Repression Reporting Act 2024’ which requires the Attorney General, in coordination with other relevant federal agencies, to report cases of transnational repression against people in the United States.

“Through this bill, Congress sends a strong message to both allies and adversaries that violating the constitutional rights of Americans will not be tolerated,” Sikh group SALDEF which has openly supported Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and has blamed India for his killing.

LAWSUIT AGAINST INDIA AND NSA AJIT DOVAL

This week Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is taking shelter in the United States, had also filed a civil lawsuit against the Government of India and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval after which the US District Court for the Southern District of New York issued summons in the case.

The summons names Government of India, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, former R&AW chief Samant Goel, R&AW agent Vikram Yadav, and an Indian national Nikhil Gupta, who has been charged by federal prosecutors in an indictment unsealed in November 2023 for allegedly “working with an Indian government employee” in the foiled plot to kill terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

The summons sought a reply within 21 days.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has called it a “completely unwarranted case”, adding that “I invite your attention to the person who filed this.” He further said that Pannun’s “antecedent is well-known” and that he is from an unlawful organisation.

Pannun heads the radical Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and is known to put out incendiary speeches and threats against Indian leaders and institutions. New Delhi designated him a terrorist in 2020.

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has told NDTV that this matter will not affect India-US ties.

WHO IS GURPATWANT SINGH PANNUN

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is a designated Khalistani terrorist. He was born and raised in Khankot village on the outskirts of Amritsar.

Pannun has claimed responsibility for several terror incidents in India. In April 2023, in a video shared on social media, he openly threatened to harm Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Assam.

He founded the Khalistan separatist group SFJ in 2007. India banned the SFJ in 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA for its anti-India activities. In 2020, Pannun was designated a terrorist.

Pannun holds a dual citizenship of the United States as well as Canada and is currently in the US. His banned separatist organisation operates out of New York.