‘Trump-Modi meeting laid strong foundation for Indo-US ties’
WASHINGTON: The meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump in June laid a strong foundation for moving India-U.S. relationship forward, a senior U.S. official has said, indicating that the defence and counter-terrorism are likely to be key areas of cooperation.
Modi’s visit to the White House “dispelled doubts” about moving the relationship forward among Indian officials, the Trump administration official said.
“I think the main issues that were discussed and will be followed up include security in the Indo-Pacific region and working closely with India to maintain free and open seaways, freedom of commerce, adherence to international law and sovereignty issues,” the official said on condition of anonymity, giving a brief review of the India-U.S. relationship in the first eight months of the Trump administration.
This very much came across in the joint statement with the references to the common principles for the Indian Ocean region, the official said, adding that the two countries will be working to follow up those commitments.
Defence cooperation was a big part of the visit, said the official, mentioning the estimated $2 billion deal for sale of guardian drones to India by the U.S. This is “the first time” that the US has de- cided to provide such technology to a non-NATO ally.
“This was a big step in the administration to agree to do that. Now there are follow up discussions in terms of the conditions of the sale and (other) specifics. As you know, these kinds of defence deals take time to completely move through the bureaucracy and come to the final agreements. That’s ongoing,” the official said.
The official said that there was also a great meeting of the minds between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump on the terrorism issue.