New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed a potential trip to the White House with US President Donald Trump in a call late Monday. The newly sworn-in US leader also emphasised the need for India to increase its purchase of American-made security equipment and for a “fair” bilateral trading relationship.
In the first conversation between the two leaders since the US president’s inauguration on 20 January, Trump told reporters that they discussed a potential visit by Modi to the US in February, according to media reports.
“The two leaders discussed expanding and deepening cooperation. They also discussed a range of regional issues, including security in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe,” said the White House readout of the call.
“The President emphasised the importance of India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship.”
The discussion, the readout said, underscored “the strength of the friendship and strategic ties between our nations”.
With India hosting Quad leaders for the first time later this year, the two leaders also emphasised their commitment to advance the US-India strategic partnership and the Indo-Pacific Quad partnership.
The Indian Prime Minister had last spoken to Trump after his election victory in November 2024. The call comes at a time when questions over tariffs, trade, and the repatriation of Indians living illegally in the US surround ties between the two countries.
Also Read: Modi congratulates ‘dear friend’ Trump on return to White House in 1st official phone call
Reaffirmed commitment to India-US ties
In the last week, Trump has increased the enforcement of immigration laws in the country, while allowing the US military to assist in the repatriation of illegal immigrants to their home countries. The deportation flights policy led to a row with a key US partner in South America, Colombia.
The US president has also looked to reposition the country’s commercial leverage to reduce its trade deficits, especially with Canada, China, the European Union (EU), and some Asian countries. In 2023-24, India had exported roughly $77 billion worth of goods to the US, while its imports from the country stood at around $42.1 billion.
India has in recent years signed a number of military agreements with the US, including an agreement for the purchase of 31 Predator “drones” worth roughly $4 billion last October. New Delhi also signed a deal with General Electric (GE) to jointly produce jet engines in India during Modi’s official state visit to the US in June 2023.
“The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment for a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership,” the Indian readout on Monday’s discussion between the two leaders
“They discussed various facets of the wide-ranging bilateral Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and measures to advance it, including in the areas of technology, trade, investment, energy and defence.”
The security partnership has evolved in a manner by which the US has become a top destination for India’s defence exports, ThePrint reported last year.
While it has supplied a number of weapons platforms to countries like the Philippines or Armenia, the US has emerged as India’s top export market, with American companies sourcing over a billion dollars worth of systems and subsystems from India annually.
On the issue of repatriation of unauthorised Indians living in the US, the MEA last week made it clear that India is open to such flights, as long as the individuals are verified Indian nationals.
Randhir Jaiswal, the MEA spokesperson said that any talk on the number of repatriations is “premature”. There are roughly 7,25,000 Indians living in the US without valid documentation, according to the latest data by the Pew Research Center.
The number of Indians seeking to cross into the US illegally has also increased over the last few years. In 2024, the US Customs and Border Patrol interacted with over 90,000 Indians attempting to enter the country without valid travel documents.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)