Diplomats from the two countries are trying to arrange a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington in February. Two Indian sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
India is a strategic partner of the United States to counter China. New Delhi is keen to increase trade relations with the US during the Trump administration. At the same time, India wants to make it easier for its citizens to get skilled worker visas in the United States. The two issues will be discussed when the two leaders meet, sources said.
Although talks are ongoing, it is not yet certain that Trump and Modi will meet in February. According to sources, the annual summit of the Quad will be held in India later this year. The leaders of the Quad, India, Australia, Japan and the United States will be present in India. There was a possibility that there could be a bilateral meeting between Modi and Trump during this summit.
On Monday (January 20), Donald Trump took the oath of office for the second time as the President of the United States. Trump’s return to the White House has raised fears of imposing tariffs on Indian goods exported to the US. Trump said that there are high tariffs on US goods exported to India. In turn, he indicated his position in favor of imposing tariffs on Indian goods.
But sources in New Delhi say India is ready to make some concessions to Washington. The country is also keeping the door open to provide incentives to attract more investment in the United States.
Trump visited India in February 2020 in his first term. At that time, more than 100,000 people gathered to see Trump at a cricket stadium in Modi’s hometown Ahmedabad. There he promised to make a big trade deal to India.
In 2019, Trump and Modi marched together in Houston, Texas. About 50,000 people, most of them Indian-Americans, took part in the ‘Howdy Modi’ rally.
The United States is India’s largest trading partner. In 2023-24, the trade volume between the two countries exceeded $118 billion. At that time, India’s trade surplus was $ 32 billion.
Increasing partnership in the technology and defense sectors is one of the other issues that may be discussed in the Trump-Modi meeting, the sources said.
Another important topic of discussion between the two leaders could be immigration. Trump has announced tough action against illegal immigrants. But Trump has said he is generous with skilled legal workers.
India is known for its large number of IT professionals. Many of these employees work in different countries. A large number of them are in the country under the H-1B visa issued for skilled workers in the United States.
India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended Trump’s inauguration on Monday. He met with the new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The US State Department said concerns about “irregular migration” were discussed at the meeting on Tuesday.