NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump this week, as New Delhi seeks closer ties with Washington in various fields, including technology, defense and trade.
Modi will be among the first foreign leaders to meet Trump at the White House during his second term. Before flying to the US, he will make a stop in France to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and to attend the AI Action Summit.
“I look forward to meeting my friend, President Trump,” Modi said in a statement before his departure on Monday.
“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.”
The two leaders shared cordial relations during Trump’s first term as president.
In 2019, Trump joined Modi at a “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston, Texas that drew about 50,000 people and was billed as one of the largest receptions for a foreign leader in the US.
When Trump made his first visit to India in February 2020, Modi hosted him in his home state of Gujarat, where the “Namaste Trump” welcome event was attended by about 100,000 people.
“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,” Modi said.
India considers the US as one of its “strongest international partnerships” in recent years, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Friday.
The US is India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade worth more than $118 billion in 2023-2024 and India posting a trade surplus of $32 billion.
Modi’s visit comes just days after US authorities deported 104 Indians in shackles on a military plane, a much-publicized transfer that sparked outrage among legislators and citizens in the South Asian nation.
