Trump calls India ‘true friend’ discusses defence with Modi
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a phone call on Tuesday that the US considers India a “true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world”.
Modi and Trump, who were speaking for the first time after the US president assumed office last Friday, also discussed “security in the region of South and Central Asia”, according to a White House statement.
Trump said he looked forward to hosting Modi “later this year”. It was not immediately clear if that will be in September-October when the Prime Minister comes to the US for the UN General Assembly, or some other time. Modi, who also invited Trump to visit India, described the conversation as “warm” in a tweet. He said in another tweet the two leaders had agreed to work closely to further strengthen ties.
The leaders also discussed opportunities to “strengthen the partnership between the US and India in broad areas such as the economy and defense”, the White House statement said without giving details.
South and Central Asia include many areas of mutual interest to India and the US, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, though it could not be ascertained whether the leaders dis-
TRUMP SAID HE LOOKED FORWARD TO HOSTING MODI ‘LATER THIS YEAR’. IT WAS NOT CLEAR IF IT WILL BE IN SEPTEMBEROCTOBER WHEN THE PM COMES TO THE US
cussed the drawdown of American troops in Afghanistan.
But Modi and Trump resolved, according to the White House statement, “that the US and India stand shoulder to shoulder in the global fight against terrorism”, which has been a priority for both leaders and their countries.
It could not also be ascertained whether the H-1B visa programme figured in the call. Trump has indicated he could crack down on measures such as the H-1B visas. Indians are among the biggest beneficiaries of the programme.
The two first spoke in November, when Modi was among the first foreign leaders to call Trump on his election win. They are likely to hold talks on the margins of the next meeting of the G-20, scheduled to be held in Hamburg, Germany, in July.
Since that first call, India engaged with the Trump transition team on two separate occasions. The first was a meeting between foreign secretary S Jaishankar and then vice president-elect Mike Pence, and the second on December 19, when National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met Trump’s NSA-designate Michael Flynn.