- Tuesday, February 04, 2025
India, a strategic partner of the United States in its efforts to counter China, is keen to enhance trade relations with the US
By: India Weekly
US president Donald Trump has invited Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House next week, a White House official said, hours after a U.S. military plane departed to return deported migrants to the country.
Trump spoke with Modi on Jan. 27, when he discussed immigration and stressed the importance of India buying more American-made security equipment and fair bilateral trading ties.
India, a strategic partner of the United States in its efforts to counter China, is keen to enhance trade relations with the US and make it easier for its citizens to get skilled worker visas.
It is also keen to avoid tariffs that Trump has threatened in the past, citing India’s high tariffs on US products.
Trump’s return to the White House has raised worries about the imposition of tariffs on India, a country he said has high tariffs on US products and indicated that he favoured reciprocating them.
But the sources said New Delhi was willing to offer some concessions to Washington and was open to offering incentives to attract more US investment.
Trump visited India in February 2020 during his previous term in office.
Then, he was cheered by more than 100,000 Indians at a cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, where he promised India “an incredible trade deal”.
In 2019, Trump held a “Howdy Modi” rally with Modi in Houston, drawing 50,000 people, mainly Indian Americans.
The United States is India’s largest trading partner and two-way trade between the two countries surpassed $118 billion (£95.07bn) in 2023/24, with India posting a trade surplus of $32 bn (£25.78bn). (Reuters)
