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After Donald Trump meet, India confident US will be 'softer on us'

2025-02-15 00:00:00.0 商业标准报-经济和政策原网页

Prime Minister Narendra Modi left Washington for home on Friday morning after a meeting with US President Donald Trump, with the Indian side confident that the Trump administration would be “softer” on New Delhi on issues ranging from tariffs to illegal immigration than it has been on several of its other allies and strategic partners.

The US President conveyed that the friction witnessed in India-US ties during the tenure of his predecessor Joe Biden, especially on the issue of the alleged plot to murder a Khalistani separatist leader, was a thing of the past. Trump didn’t dismiss the possibility that USAID might have interfered with the 2020 US Presidential and 2024 Lok Sabha elections. But the highlight of the Trump-Modi meeting, and the subsequent press conference, was their spirited personal rapport, and evidence of the two leaders having seamlessly picked up the threads of the friendship they had struck during the US President’s previous term (2016-20).

At the press briefing, in his opening statement, the PM said: “If I say in the language of America, developed India means Make India Great Again, i.e. “MIGA”. When the United States and India work together, i.e. “MAGA” plus “MIGA”, the “MEGA” Partnership for prosperity is formed. And this mega spirit gives new scale and scope to our goals.”

The joint statement, issued after the talks, spoke of the two sides committing to deepen their cooperation in the energy sector, counter-terrorism, defence, nuclear energy, sharing of technology, their synergy in the Indo-Pacific region and West Asia, and the centrality of Quad with India hosting the summit this year. Trump and Modi also committed “to break new ground to support and sustain the overseas deployments of the US and Indian militaries in the Indo-Pacific”. It said India will “soon” open new consulates in Los Angeles and Boston. It also had enough to suggest that the Trump administration has heeded New Delhi’s concerns on legal and illegal immigration. With the next batch of 119 Indian deportees set to land in Amritsar over the weekend, the Indian side returned home confident that these women and men will be treated better.

On legal immigration, the two sides agreed to put in place “innovative, mutually advantageous and secure mobility frameworks”. Modi and Trump committed to streamlining avenues for legal mobility of students and professionals, and facilitating short-term tourist and business travel. The two sides said they will “aggressively” address illegal immigration and human trafficking by taking action against bad actors, criminal facilitators, and illegal immigration networks.

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For this, both committed themselves to strengthen law enforcement cooperation.

The two sides noted that the over 300,000-strong Indian student community contributes over $8 billion annually to the US economy and helped create a number of direct and indirect jobs. They recognised that the talent flow and movement of students, researchers and employees, has mutually benefited both countries. The two sides said they will work to strengthen collaborations between the higher education institutions through efforts such as joint/dual degree and twinning programs, establishing joint Centres of Excellence, and setting up offshore campuses of premier educational institutions of the US in India.

Terrorism

On terrorism, Trump expressed his understanding of and support for India’s fight against the menace. “We are going to have a fantastic relationship and it will make both countries much stronger,” he said of the two countries combating ISIS, and other terror groups together. The US announced that the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved. The leaders 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 terrorism.

Personal chemistry

Modi is among the first few world leaders to visit the US after Trump assumed office for his second term. The US President presented Modi a book, “Our Journey Together”, where he wrote: “Mr Prime Minister, You Are Great”. “We spent a lot of time here, and a lot of time in India… Prime Minister, it's a pleasure to extend to you the same hospitality that you showed Melania (Trump) and myself when we travelled to your beautiful country five years ago,” the President said, alluding to his India visit in 2020. Trump described the PM as “a very special man”. “I think our relationship is the best it has ever been between two leaders of the two countries,” he said. Trump said, “Everybody talks about him (Modi). He's doing a really fantastic job. He's a great leader.”

On allegations levelled against Indian agencies related to the alleged plot to murder Khalistani separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Trump said, “I don’t think India had a very good relationship with the (Joe) Biden administration. A lot of things happened that were not very appropriate between India and the Biden administration.”

Modi told Trump that he is grateful to the US President for the latter’s great friendship and strong commitment towards India. On India-US negotiations on tariffs, Trump said of Modi, “He is a much tougher negotiator than me, and he is a much better negotiator. There’s not even a contest.” After the meeting, Modi said there was satisfaction of the two having achieved so much together during Trump’s first term and the trust built then acted as a bridge during their discussions on Friday. Officials said despite Trump’s hawkish stand on tariffs, he displayed a “softer” side for India by noting that it is alone not responsible for the trade practices which he believes harm the US business.

To a question on whether the issue relating to business tycoon Gautam Adani figured in the talks, Modi said, “India is a democracy and our culture is Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. We consider the whole world as one family. I believe every Indian is mine.” “Two prominent leaders of two countries never discuss such individual issues,” he added.