bet88 PM Modi & President Trump Hold Bilateral Talks; Discuss Mega Trade Deal, Selling F-35 Fighter Jets, War | Top Points

PM Modi meets Donald Trump Photo: PTI PM Modi meets Donald Trump Photo: PTI

On the last day of his visit to the United Statesbet88, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with President Donald Trump and held bilateral talks. The two leaders discussed strategic ties in various key areas.

The two leaders also announced that India will buy more oil, gas, and military hardware, including F-35 fighter jets, from America to bring down its trade deficit. No announcements were made on reciprocal tarrifs.

Trump had earlier asserted that Washington impose "reciprocal tariffs" on trading partners.While signing the executive order, the US President said that India has more tariff than any other country. His remarks had come just ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister. 

At his Oval Office in the White House on Thursday (Friday, India time), Trump warmly welcomed Modi with a long handshake and a bear hug while describing the prime minister as a "great friend" for a long time and a "terrific man''. The two also spoke about immigration, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the future of trade deals between the two countries.

Trump also admired the "negotiating" skills of PM Modi. "He is a much tougher negotiator than me, and he is a much better negotiator than me. There is not even a contest," he said. He also called the PM a "great friend for a long time."

thunderstruck 2 Mega Trade Deal Soon

The US president, at a joint media briefing with the Indian prime minister following the talks, said both sides are looking at striking a major trade deal soon while calling import duties imposed by India on certain US products as "very unfair" and "strong".

"Whatever India charges, we will charge them," Trump said, adding "We are being reciprocal with India."

India and the US have announced that they will conclude the first phase of a mega trade pact by this year and set a target of USD 500 billion in annual trade by 2030 even as President Donald Trump asserted that Washington will not spare New Delhi from reciprocal tariffs.

The bilateral trade between India and the US was around USD 130 billion last year and the trade deficit stands at around USD 45 billion in New Delhi's favour.

"Today, we have set a target of more than doubling bilateral trade to 500 billion dollars by 2030. Our teams will work on an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade agreement," Modi said.

"We will strengthen the oil and gas trade to ensure India's energy security. Investment in energy infrastructure will also increase," he said.

Initiatives Taken Up By US And India

To broad-base overall ties in key sectors, Trump and Modi launched a new initiative called 'US-India COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce and Technology) for the 21st Century'.

The initiative is aimed at driving transformative change across key pillars of cooperation.

The two leaders unveiled the launch of the 'TRUST' initiative, aimed at fostering greater collaboration between governments, academia, and the private sector to drive innovation in defence, AI, semiconductors, energy, and space.

Ammad Butt is leading the Pakistan hockey team with goalkeeper Ishtiag Abdullah Khan. Jungjun Lee is leading the Korean side and Taeseok Min is the coach. Jaehan Kim is their goalkeeper.

Six teams, namely India, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Pakistan, Japan and China are participating in the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 and the hosts are the lowest-ranked (23) team in the tournament. India's next opponent, Japan are ranked 15 in the world.

US To Be Leading Supplier Of Oil & Gas

In his remarks, Trump said he and PM Modi have reached an agreement that could potentially make the US the "number one supplier" of oil and gas to India, suggesting it to be part of measures to bring down the US trade deficit with India that stands at around USD 45 billion.

Defence Partnership: US To Sell F-35 Fighter Jets

The US president also said that both sides have decided to expand the overall defence partnership.

"Starting this year,funph games we will be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars," Trump said.

"We are also paving the way to ultimately provide India with F-35 stealth fighters," he added. The F35 jets are known as the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter aircraft in the world.

PM Modi stated that a defence cooperation framework will be prepared for next decade.

Fighting Against Islamist Terror

Trump also announced that India and the US will be working together like "never before" to confront the threat of radical Islamist terror across the world.

"I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the very evil people of the world," he said, referring to the extradition of 26/11 Mumbai attack plotter Tahawwur Rana to India.

Rana, currently detained at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles, is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the terror attack.

"He is going to be going back to India to face justice," Trump said. "We're giving him back to India immediately" and more such extraditions could follow as we have quite a few requests (from New Delhi)," he added.

On The Russia-Ukraine War

Prime Minister Modi and President Trump also answered questions on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"I support Donald Trump's efforts towards finding a possible solution to end the war. The world somehow feels India has been neutral during the war. But I would like to reiterate that India has not been neutral. In fact, India has been on the side of peace," Modi said.

"When I met President Putin, I had even said that 'this is not the era for war'. I had also said that solutions cannot be found on the battlefield. They can only come when all parties sit at the table for dialogue," he said.

Trump responding to PM Modi's statement, said, "we want to end the war".

Other Discussions

The US president also noted positive momentum in India-US cooperation in the civil-nuclear energy sector. "In the groundbreaking development for the US nuclear industry, India is also reforming laws to welcome US nuclear technology to the Indian market," he said.

In his remarks, Prime Minister Modi said cooperation between India and the US can shape a better world. "One thing that I deeply appreciate, and I learn from President Trump, is that he keeps the national interest (of the US) supreme. Like him, I also keep the national interest of India at the top of everything else," Modi said.

To a question on whether the issue relating to business tycoon Gautam Adani figured in the talks, Modi said: "India is a democracy and our culture is 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'. We consider the whole world as one family. I believe every Indian is mine." Modi said such individual matters are not discussed in talks between two leaders. "Two prominent leaders of two countries never discuss such individual issues," he said.

On ties between India and China following the eastern Ladakh border row, Trump described the "skirmishes" as "vicious". “I do see the skirmishes on the border which are quite vicious... If I could be of help," he said.

The US president said he wished China, India, Russia and the US -- all could get along well.

Regarding the Bangladesh crisis, which resulted in the downfall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government last year, Donald Trump dismissed speculation about the US deep state’s involvement. "I will leave Bangladesh to PM Modi," the President stated.

On the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, Trump said both sides agreed to work to help build one of "greatest trade routes" in history globally.

Before meeting Trump, Prime Minister Modi held separate talks with US National Security Advisor Mike Waltzbet88, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, billionaire Elon Musk and Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy.