Modi, Trump
“I would like to assure you that whatever expectations the world has of India, and whatever expectation the US has, India has made all-out efforts to fulfil those expectations and it will continue to do so,” he added.
Foreign secretary S Jaishankar described the 45-minute meeting, the third between Modi and Trump, as a “cordial, constructive and very comfortable” conversation on bilateral, regional and global issues.
A White House statement said the leaders had discussed their “shared commitment to a free and open Indo-pacific region”. It added, “They pledged to enhance their cooperation as Major Defence Partners, resolving that two of the world’s great democracies should also have the world’s greatest militaries.” The leaders mainly focused on economic issues, including trade and investment, expanding economic ties and improving market access for each other, Jaishankar said.
A fair amount of time was devoted to Afghanistan, and Modi briefed Trump on the recent supply of wheat by India to the wartorn country via Chabahar. They also discussed defence cooperation, the situation in the Middle East, counter-terrorism, nuclear proliferation and the Korean crisis, he said.
Sources said the Indian side brought up the issue of holding to account those responsible for “proliferation linkages”– a reference to the aid provided by Pakistan and China to North Korea’s nuclear programme.
The leaders also discussed the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, where violence against the Rohingyas has forced more than 600,000 people to flee to Bangladesh. Energy cooperation, including the first shipment of US crude to India, and the upcoming Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) also figured in the talks. The White House statement said Trump had expressed appreciation that Indian oil purchases had surpassed 10 million barrels, describing stronger energy cooperation as a “geopolitical and economic game changer for both countries”.
Both sides stressed t he warmth of the meeting. Modi thanked Trump for expressing a “very high opinion of India” in recent public speeches, while the US president described Modi as “a friend of ours and a great gentleman doing a fantastic job in bringing around lots of factions in India… all together… It’s a lot of good reports coming out of India.”
The meeting is expected to give a boost to the quadrilateral, widely perceived as a joint effort by the four countries to push back against Beijing’s aggressive polices and its One Belt, One Road connectivity project. The move to revive the quadrilateral alliance has coincided with increased Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea and its aggressive implementation of the BRI. The members of the Quad issued statements underlining the importance of a “rules-based order” and “freedom of navigation” in regional waters – a clear nod to the position adopted by China in its disputes with several countries in the South China Sea.