The world's attention was glued to the meeting between the top leaders of the world's oldest democracy- US and the world's largest democracy- India. It was PM Modi's first visit to India after Donald Trump became President of the US for the second time. The camaraderie between PM Modi and Donald Trump sent good signals to both Washington and Delhi. PM Narendra Modi has left for Delhi after finishing his US tour. PM Modi reached the White House at 3 am on Friday to meet US President Donald Trump. Both the leaders stayed together for about two and a half hours. During this time, bilateral talks took place between the two. Trump-Modi spoke to the media twice.
Trump praised PM Modi on the tariff issue and called him a tough negotiator. He said that PM Modi is his good friend and he is doing a good job. US President Donald Trump announced to give F-35 stealth fighter jets to India. Along with this, he talked about sending the 2008 Mumbai attack terrorist Tahawwur Rana to India.
At the same time, PM Modi congratulated Trump on being elected as the President of America for the second time. He said that it is a matter of happiness that 'I have got the opportunity to work with Trump again.'
PM Modi and President Trump also had an informal conversation with the media before the joint press conference. In the joint PC, both leaders talked about key issues like tariffs, immigration, terrorism, etc. Below are key takeaways from the press conference-
Key takeaways from PM Modi's interaction
- Illegal immigrants- Those who live illegally in other countries have no legal right to live there. We have always said that we are ready to bring back those who are citizens of India and are living illegally in America.
- Human trafficking- People from ordinary families are shown big dreams. Most of them are brought here by misleading them. Both America and India should try to eradicate this system from its roots.
- Terrorism- We agree that concrete action should be taken to end terrorism originating from the other side of the border. I appreciate the decision to extradite a criminal (Tahawwur Rana) who committed genocide in India.
- Russia-Ukraine war- The world's view is that India is neutral, but India is not neutral, India's own stand is peace. Solutions to problems do not come from war. They come only by discussing on the table. I fully support the peace initiative taken by President Trump.
Key takeaways from Donald Trump's interaction
- Tariff- In this meeting, we have discussed every aspect. We will continue to increase our strategic partnership with India. India imposes a 70% tariff.
- Khalistan- I do not think that India had good relations with the Biden administration. Many things happened that were not right. We will work together with India to control crime.
- Strictness on India- How will you defeat China by showing strictness with India? In response to this, Trump said - we can defeat anyone, but we do not think about defeating anyone.
- Trade deficit with India- We can very easily cover the gap in the deficit with the sale of oil, gas, and LNG. For this, we have signed an important agreement.