‘Deeply appreciate, fully reciprocate’: PM Modi hails Trump’s ‘positive assessment’ of India-US ties amid tariff tension

Trump had said that India and the United States have a “special relationship” and there’s “nothing to worry about” as the two countries “just have moments on occasion”, amid current tensions between Washington and Delhi.

“I’ll always be friends with (Narendra) Modi, he’s a great prime minister. He’s great. I’ll always be friends, but I just don’t like what he’s doing at this particular moment,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday (early Saturday morning IST). “But India and the United States have a special relationship. There’s nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion,” Trump added with a smile.

The US president was responding to a question on whether he is ready to reset relations with India, as ties between the two countries continue to reel under possibly the worst diplomatic phase in over two decades.

Hours later, on Saturday morning, PM Modi posted on X, “Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties. India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership.”

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that PM Modi attaches “enormous importance to our partnership with the US”. “Where President Trump is concerned, he (PM Modi) has always had a very good personal equation with President Trump. But the point is that we remain engaged with the US, and at this time, I can’t say more than that. But that’s really what I would say,” he said in Delhi.

PM Modi’s post came a day after Trump—in his first remarks on the huddle between PM Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation leaders in Tianjin last weekend—said on Friday that it “looks like we have lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China”.

Trump’s remark comes amid the strain in India-US ties over his imposition of 50 per cent tariff on India, and his own efforts to persuade Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

Posting a photograph of Modi, Putin and Xi walking together, Trump took to Truth Social and had said, “Looks like we have lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!”.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi will not address the general debate at the annual high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly later this month, according to a revised provisional list of speakers issued in New York. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s name has been included in the list; he will address the session on September 27.

In the White House, Trump also said that he is “very disappointed” that India would be buying “so much” oil from Russia. “I’ve been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil from Russia, and I let them know that. We put a very big tariff on India, 50 per cent tariff, very high tariff. I get along very well with (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi, he’s great. He was here a couple of months ago,” Trump said in response to a question on his social media post that the US has lost India and Russia to China.

To a question on how trade talks are going with India and other countries, Trump said, “They are going great. Other countries are doing great. We’re doing great with all of them. We’re upset with the European Union because of what’s happening with not just Google, but with all of our big companies.”

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