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Modi can handle terrorism from Pakistan, he will solve the problem, says Donald Trump

Ahead of Modi meeting, Trump says there'll be trade deal with India soon. US President compares Modi with Elvis Presley, calls him “father of India” for bringing country together.

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New York: US President Donald Trump Tuesday affirmed faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ability to handle terrorism emanating from Pakistan and said an India-US trade deal would be concluded soon.

Talking to the media ahead of his meeting with the Indian PM on the margins of the UN General Assembly, Trump said it was not for him to give any message to Pakistan on cross-border terrorism as a “pretty loud message” had already been sent by Modi – a reference to the prime minister’s thinly-veiled attack on Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism at the Howdy, Modi! event in Houston Sunday.

Trump effusively praised Modi, even calling him the “father of India” for his efforts to bring the country together and comparing him to rock star Elvis Presley for his ability to rouse the audience at the community outreach event in Houston.

Modi, who was seated next to Trump, praised the US President for his support to India.
“I am thankful to Trump that he came to Houston. He is my friend but he is also a good friend of India,” Modi said at the meeting, referring to the event in Texas when the two leaders spoke in front of a strong crowd consisting mostly of Indian-American people.

“In the four months since our government came back, I have had the chance of meeting President Trump thrice and we have held detailed and fruitful discussions on different issues. The continuous engagement and closeness between the largest and oldest democracies is a great sign for a world that believes in democratic values,” the prime minister said.

Just as he had done during his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday, Trump sidestepped questions on Islamabad’s role in sponsoring and supporting terrorism against New Delhi and said Iran should be “at the top of the list” of terrorist states.


Also read: Modi will always have Houston & India, a changed relationship with the US


India, Pakistan and Kashmir

Trump made no new offer to mediate on the Kashmir issue, as he had done during his meeting with Khan, and instead said he believed the prime ministers of India and Pakistan could “get together and work something [out]”.

Asked what message he would like to give Pakistan in light of Khan’s past remarks that there are 40,000 terrorists in that country and that the Pakistan Army and Inter-Services Intelligence had trained al Qaeda, Trump replied: “Well, I mean, the message is not for me to give, it’s for Prime Minister Modi to give and I think he gave that loud and clear on the other day…He gave a pretty loud message and I’m sure he’ll be able to handle that situation.”

Responding to other questions on the same issue, Trump said he hadn’t heard Khan’s remarks on the Pakistan Army training al Qaeda and added that “I know this, that your Prime Minister will take care of it”. He added, “You have a great Prime Minister, he will solve the problem, I have no doubt about it.”

Asked about Pakistan’s sponsorship of terrorism, he replied, “You mentioned Pakistan but Iran would have to be at the top of the list because if you look at terrorist states, that’s been the number one for a long time.”

Trump further said, “It will be great if they [India and Pakistan] could work out something on Kashmir, we all want to see that.” He added that he believed Modi and Khan “will get along when they get to know each other and I think a lot of good things will come from that meeting”.


Also read: Trump is stuck between Modi and Imran on Kashmir


India-US trade

Responding to a question on tackling India-US differences on trade, Trump said both sides were “doing very well” and US trade representative Robert Lighthizer was negotiating with India’s “very capable representatives and I think very soon we’ll have a trade deal”.
Indicating that this may be a limited pact for now, he added, “We’ll have the larger deal down the road a little bit but we will have a trade deal very soon.”

People familiar with developments said the limited trade deal was expected to address immediate concerns of the two sides, including the US demand for removing price controls on medical devices and stents, greater access for American dairy products and reduction of tariffs on ICT, and the Indian demand for reinstating benefits under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), which were withdrawn in June.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal travelled to New York for talks with Lighthizer on the trade deal while US Ambassador Kenneth Juster had held extensive negotiations with commerce ministry officials in New Delhi over several days ahead of Modi’s visit to the US, the people said.

At Tuesday’s briefing, Modi also referred to deal inked during the Houston leg of his US visit and stated that it will lead to the creation of 50,000 jobs in the years to come.

“In Houston, in my presence, an agreement was signed by Indian company Petronet for the amount of $2.5 billion. This amount will be invested in the energy sector. In years to come, this will result in the trade of an amount of 60 billion dollars worth of trade and would lead to the creation of 50,000 jobs which I think is a very big initiative taken by India”, he said.

Modi, ‘like a father…’

The two leaders also spoke about their camaraderie, with Trump saying his personal chemistry with Modi was “as good as it can get”, he said he had “great respect” and “great admiration” for the Indian leader.

“I remember India before, not intimately, but I remember India before, it was very torn, it was a lot of dissension and a lot of fighting and he brought it all together. Like a father would bring it together, and maybe he’s the father of India. We’ll call him the father of India…,” he said.

Trump said the Howdy, Modi! event showed how much he liked India and Modi.
“There was tremendous spirit in that room too and they love this gentleman to my right…Those people went crazy, that was like Elvis…it was like…Elvis Presley came back,” he said. “Trump is definitely my friend and a very good friend of India,” Modi said at the beginning of the briefing.

By special arrangement with


Also read: Trump’s Kashmir remarks don’t signal US policy, he’s playing India & Pakistan: Diplomats


 

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4 COMMENTS

  1. Grim news for President Trump. The House of Representatives has announced a formal impeachment enquiry. It will add to gridlock in Washington, definitely impact the race for 2020.

  2. The inability to announce a formal trade deal need not be seen as a disappointment. The Commerce Minister is in the US, meeting the Trade Representative. The volumes involved in the disputed items are not substantial. Nor does India have the bone crushing surplus with the US that China has. President Trump’s statement that the future belongs to patriots, not globalists, is something India should factor into its calculations, for it impacts more than trade alone.

  3. IK should come home and focus on the feeble economy and now earth quake damage. Kashmiris in IoJK are on their own. Pakistan has sacrificed enough.

  4. On January 2, 2003, the then representative of India to the United States and former Foreign Minister of the largest democrary in the world, Amb. Lalit Mansing said the following about Elvis Presley. The date, the place and the moment he said it is of extreme importance as well. And I quote ” It is difficult to imagine two more dissimilar personalities than Elvis Presley and Mahatma Gandhi. And yet the words of Elvis Presley are strangely close to Gandhi’s thinking when he said that he dreamt of an India where he would be able to wipe the last tears of the last child, words reminiscent to what Elvis once said and I quote “I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling that he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world” Unquote That those words by the Ambassador immediately followed his attending an inauguration ceremony for the exhibit at the National Civil Rights Museum installed, in Memphis, for the 35th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s death, is a testament to India’s admiration for an American who touched the lives of people worldwide

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