Today in Politics: What’s on the table during PM Modi, President Trump talks?

The bilateral meeting took place on the sidelines of the AI Action summit before Modi left for the US to meet President Trump, less than a month after his return to the Oval Office. The Prime Minister, who left Marseille for Washington DC, will reach early Thursday India time.

In Paris, Modi and Vance “discussed topics of mutual interest, including how the United States can assist India in diversifying its energy sourcing through investments in clean, reliable US nuclear technology,” the White House said in a statement.

IN CONTEXT: Officials say this is the earliest that an Indian Prime Minister has visited the White House – President Trump ends his third week in office. Only a handful of foreign leaders have visited White House since his inauguration on January 20 — Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Japan PM Shigeru Ishiba and Jordan’s King Abdullah. Even the British PM, who usually is among the first foreign leaders, hasn’t visited yet.

For New Delhi, the strategic calculus is that they need to have a face-to-face between the two leaders given that they enjoy some personal rapport from Trump’s previous term between 2017 and 2021.

Immigration and tariffs are expected to dominate the conversation – the Trump 2.0 administration has been aggressive on both the issues.

And that was seen in the deportation of 104 illegal Indian immigrants flown to India in a military aircraft, and with handcuffs and shackles.

About 800 such Indians – 487 are presumed Indian citizens and another 298 who are in the final stages of verification — will be deported soon.

Delhi has said that it is ready to take back illegal Indian immigrants, and has “registered concerns” on the mistreatment — short of lodging a protest.

India is also hoping that the strategic alignment on China will continue – Trump had described China as a strategic threat and revived the Quad in his first term.

Demand for J&K statehood

The demand for the restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir is becoming more and more prominent.

J&K Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra on Wednesday announced a 15-day long campaign to press for restoration of statehood to the Union Territory.

He said the campaign will be launched from Udhampur district on Thursday. “The BJP has so far failed to keep its statehood restoration promise and we have doubts on their intentions,” he said.

IN CONTEXT: Restoration of statehood to J&K was one of the several promises made by the National Conference in its manifesto for the Assembly elections in the Union Territory last year.I

In its first Cabinet meeting after coming to power, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah adopted a resolution seeking restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

Who will be Manipur CM?

Three days after N Biren Singh stepped down as Chief Minister of Manipur, there is still no clarity on who will take over.

Manipur Congress MLA Thokchom Lokeshwar on Wednesday questioned the purpose of BJP North East in-charge Sambit Patra’s visit to the state amidst the crisis and asked if he intends to resolve the leadership crisis.

“What is the purpose of Patra’s visit to the state? Has he come to break the state apart?’ Lokeshwar told reporters.

The Congress legislator said Patra should have taken the lead to appoint a new CM by discussing with the BJP MLAs.

Meanwhile, Manipur BJP MLA Karam Shyam said he did not know if President’s Rule would be imposed in the state but added there was “no constitutional crisis” after Biren Singh’s resignation.

Shyam said the ongoing issues would be resolved by the Centre with the help of legislators.

“I don’t know about the President’s Rule. I think the problem (ongoing leadership crisis) will be resolved by the Centre with the help of the legislators. I think there is no constitutional crisis in Manipur,” the BJP MLA said.

He came to a hotel in Imphal to meet BJP’s Northeast in-charge Sambit Patra.

— With PTI inputs