U.S. President Donald Trump and India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed issues ranging from weapons sales to trade when they met in Washington on Thursday but in public remarks avoided the sensitive subjects of human rights and minority abuses.
Concerns over India’s human rights track record have taken a bipartisan backseat in Washington in recent years as India gained clout by boosting its U.S. trade and emerging as a partner in countering China, experts say, noting Trump’s second presidency will continue that trend
Trump, who has previously complained about Indian tariffs, agreed with Modi that the two countries would work together on a trade deal.
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered to talk about easing tariffs, buying more U.S. oil, gas, and combat aircraft, and potential concessions that don’t yet end a standoff on trade.
“We’re also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters,” said Trump.
“Starting this year, we’ll be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars,” Trump told a joint news conference with Modi.
“We’re also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters,” Trump said.
Trump said that he found a “special bond” with Modi and India and, in an uncharacteristic if ironic show of humility, complimented Modi as being a “much tougher negotiator” than he is.
The offer emerged from the two leaders’ White House talks, just hours after Trump railed against the climate for American businesses in India and unveiled a roadmap for reciprocal tariffs on every country that puts duties on U.S. imports.
“Prime Minister Modi recently announced the reductions to India’s unfair, extreme tariffs that limit our access to the Indian market, very strongly,” Trump said. “And it’s a big problem I must say.”
Modi at the news conference vowed to keep cooperating, saying that undocumented Indians are being lured by human traffickers.
“Any verified Indian who is in the US illegally, we are fully prepared to take them back to India,” Modi said.
Trump, in turn, announced the United States would extradite to India a suspect in the bloody 2008 siege of Mumbai, whom he called “one of the very evil people in the world.”
Trump could visit India later this year for a summit of the Quad – a four-way grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
