After taking office for the second time, President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Jan. 27.
The leaders of the world’s two largest democracies discussed a range of issues, in a conversation that the White House called “productive” in a statement Monday.
“The President emphasized the importance of India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship,” the White House said.
Akhil Ramesh, director of the India program at the Honolulu-based Pacific Forum, told The Epoch Times that the trade deficit with India is a concern for Trump.
“He’s talking about the trade deficit, equal apples-to-apples market access, and tariff reduction on goods,” Ramesh said.
Swasti Rao is an associate fellow at the New Delhi-based Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Rao told The Epoch Times that Trump has asked all trading partners—including India—to reduce trade deficits.
Trump has proposed two ways to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with India, Rao said. One involves India reducing tariffs for imported American goods. The second is for India to purchase more hydrocarbons from the United States.
Trump, Modi to Meet in Person
Modi and Trump will be meeting soon, with a visit by Modi to Washington being discussed, according to the White House.“We will work together for the welfare of our people and towards global peace, prosperity, and security,” Modi said.
Rao said an in-person meeting between the two leaders could happen on the sidelines of next month’s tech summit in Paris, or in person at the White House.
Regional Geopolitics
During their 20-minute call, Trump and Modi also discussed regional geopolitical issues, including security situations in the Indo-Pacific region, the Middle East, and Europe.The White House said Trump and Modi reiterated their commitment to advance both countries’ strategic partnership as well as their partnership in the Indo-Pacific region through the QUAD framework. The diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States works to support an open, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
“The continuity [of focus] in the Indo-Pacific will continue under this [Trump] administration as well,” Rao said.
Illegal Immigration
After the call, in a conversation with reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he had discussed the issue of illegal immigrants with Modi and stated that Modi will do “what is right.”Trump said he had a long talk with Modi on Monday morning, and that Modi will likely visit the White House in February. “We have a very good relationship with India,” the president said.
Burzine Waghmar, an affiliate of the SOAS South Asia Institute at the University of London, told The Epoch Times that Modi will comply with the new Trump administration to deport illegal immigrants from India.
“Bogus asylum seekers in the U.S. rose from 4,330 in 2021, to 41,330 in 2023, a whopping 855 percent surge, which strains credulity,” Waghmar said. Most of those asylum seekers are from Gujarat, Modi’s home and one of India’s more prosperous states.
Rao said India’s quick compliance with the United States on the issue of illegal immigrants is a positive development for India–United States relations.
Rao noted that India earns $125 billion annually from remittances—money sent home by Indians working in different parts of the world. However, it only received $70 to $72 billion in foreign direct investment.
“India has to also make sure that the remittances keep on coming,” she said, “and for that, we have to also make sure that our skilled labor is welcome.”
That is especially true for countries from which India earns top remittances, namely, the United States, the UK, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, she said.
