US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House when the two met in February. File image/AFP
US President Donald Trump said he is planning to visit India soon, calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “great man” and a “dear friend”. Trump’s latest remarks are seen by many as the latest sign of a possible thaw in a trade dispute that has soured the two countries’ relationship.
“He’s a friend of mine, and we speak, and he wants me to go there, and we’ll figure that out, I’ll go,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. He went on to maintain that trade negotiations with India are going “very well.” When asked if the American leader is planning to visit New Delhi next year, Trump replied, “It could be, yeah.” However, he still declined to provide a timeline for a trip.
The India-US ties deteriorated after Trump earlier this year slapped 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods. The move was undertaken to put pressure on New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine. The tariffs added further tensions to an already contentious negotiation over what the US has described as India’s high levies and other barriers on American goods.
Source:First Post
