New Delhi: On his second and last day of India visit, US president Donald Trump called “PM Modi terrific leader, India tremendous country”.
Trump and his wife, Melania, were welcomed by PM Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. After paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, he headed to Hyderabad House for a meeting with PM Modi.
At the press conference after their meeting, Modi thanked Trump for visiting India with his family.
Trump thanked Modi for hosting them and said that the last two days were wonderful.
Read the full text of President Trump’s speech:
Well, thank you very much. And, Prime Minister Modi, this has been a very special visit — unforgettable, extraordinary. What can you say? Very, very wonderful to be with you. Thank you very much.
And Melania and I have been awed by the majesty of India and the exceptional kindness and generosity of the Indian people.
We’ll always remember the magnificent welcome the citizens of your home state showed us upon arrival. It was a profound expression of strength and of — of real love. Really, it was love. And I think everybody saw that; everybody witnessed that for themselves.
The First Lady and I also reflected on the memory of Mahatma Gandhi at his ashram. And this morning, in Delhi, we laid a wreath in his honor. We visited one of your nation’s most stunning cultural treasures: the world-famous Taj Mahal. And we look forward to continuing our visit tonight, doing a wonderful state banquet with President Kovind at the Presidential Palace.
I know Prime Minister Modi will agree that this has been a very productive visit for both of our countries. Earlier today, we expanded our defense cooperation with agreements for India to purchase more than $3 billion of advanced American military equipment, including Apache and MH-60 Romeo helicopters — the finest in the world. These deals will enhance our joint defense capabilities as our militaries continue to train and operate side-by-side.
In our discussions, Prime Minister Modi and I affirmed our two countries’ commitment to protecting our citizens from radical Islamic terrorism. In this effort, the United States is also working productively with Pakistan to confront terrorists who operate on its soil.
Together, the Prime Minister and I are revitalizing the Quad Initiative with the United States, India, Australia, and Japan. Since I took office, we have held the first Quad ministerial meeting — I guess you would call it a meeting, but it seems like so much more than that — and expanded cooperation on counterterrorism, cybersecurity, and maritime security to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.
As we deepen our partnership with India, we remember that our two countries have always been united by shared traditions of democracy and constitutions that protect freedom, individual rights, and the rule of law.
During our visit, we discussed the importance of a secure 5G wireless network and the need for this emerging technology to be a tool for freedom, progress, prosperity — not to do anything where it could be even conceived as a conduit for suppression and censorship.
To guarantee that the infrastructure of the future is built in a safe, transparent, and accountable manner, the United States is working with a range of partners, including Australia and Japan, to create the Blue Dot Network, a major initiative to ensure countries around the world to have access to private sector-led, sustainable, and trustworthy options for high-quality infrastructure development, and that’s what’s happening.
Another major focus of my discussions with Prime Minister Modi is forging bilateral economic relationships that is fair and reciprocal. Our teams have made tremendous progress on a comprehensive trade agreement and I’m optimistic we can reach a deal that will be of great importance to both countries.
Since I took office, U.S. exports to India are up nearly 60 percent and exports of high-quality American energy have grown by — thank you very much — 500 percent. That’s great.
As India grows, so do its energy needs. Yesterday, ExxonMobil signed a deal to improve India’s natural gas distribution network so that the U.S. can export even more LNG to India.
We are pleased to be joined by the Chairman of ExxonMobil LNG Market Development, Alex Volkov. Thank you, Alex, wherever you may be. Where is Alex? He’s here someplace. Alex, thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you very much, Alex. And the CEO of Chart Energy and Chemicals Jillian Evanko. Thank you very much. Thank you both. Thank you, Jillian.Thank you very much.
That’s a big deal, Alex, right? Can you handle it? I think so, right? It’s great.
To further strengthen our economic ties, the United States is pleased to announce that the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation will be establishing a permanent presence right here.
America is especially committed to working with India to improve development and empower women entrepreneurs. That is why my daughter Ivanka attended the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad to highlight women’s economic empowerment. Ivanka, please — great job you’ve done. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you.
We have since launched the W-GDP initiative, which is now spearheading projects supporting women in the economy from New Delhi to Kolkata.
In our meetings with the Prime Minister, we discussed and agreed to create a counter-narcotics working group to confront the growing threat of illicit fentanyl and opioid production. We must rid our societies of these lethal, horrible poisons. We will rid our societies of these bad drugs that are pouring in.
Prime Minister Modi, we have made tremendous advances for our people over the past two days. And, working together, I know that our two nations will continue to achieve new breakthroughs, unlock new potential, and forge even brighter futures in the years ahead.
We think we’re at a point where our relationship is so special with India. It has never been as good as it is right now and I think that’s because the two leaders of each country — really, we feel very strongly about each other. And we have — we have done something that’s very unique and we’ve made some wonderful deals for each of our countries.
Once again, we want to thank you and the entire nation of India for honoring the United States with its outstanding welcome. And I‘m pleased to say that the U.S.-Indian partnership is now truly stronger than ever before. This was a great visit with a tremendous friend and a tremendous leader, Prime Minister Modi.
We won’t be taking questions now; I’ll be having a news conference at 5 o’clock and we’ll take plenty of questions. Thank you all very much. Thank you.
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