Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will try to rekindle his bromance with Mr Donald Trump – and avoid the United States president’s wrath on tariffs and immigration – when they meet today (Singapore time) at the White House.
Mr Modi will also hold a joint press conference with Mr Trump, the White House said – a rare move from the Indian leader, who is a prolific social media user but seldom takes questions from reporters.
The latest in a series of foreign leaders beating an early path to the Oval Office door since the Republican’s return to power, Mr Modi shared good relations with Mr Trump during his first term.
The prime minister has offered quick tariff concessions ahead of his visit, with New Delhi slashing duties on high-end motorcycles – a boost to Harley-Davidson, the iconic American manufacturer whose struggles in India have irked Mr Trump.
India also accepted a US military flight carrying 100 shackled migrants last week as part of Mr Trump’s immigration overhaul, and New Delhi has vowed its own “strong crackdown” on illegal migration.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said last week that there has been a “very close rapport” between the leaders, although their ties have so far failed to bring a breakthrough on a long-sought bilateral trade deal.
Mr Modi was among the first to congratulate “good friend” Trump after the American’s November election win.
For nearly three decades, US presidents from both parties have prioritised building ties with India, seeing a natural partner against a rising China.
But Mr Trump has also raged against India over trade, the biggest foreign policy preoccupation of his new term, in the past calling the world’s fifth-largest economy the “biggest tariff abuser”.
Mr Modi “has prepared for this, and he is seeking to preempt Trump’s anger,” said Ms Lisa Curtis, the National Security Council director on South Asia during Mr Trump’s first term.
The Indian government has meanwhile obliged Mr Trump on another top priority: deporting undocumented immigrants.
While public attention has focused on Latin American arrivals, India is the third source of undocumented immigrants in the United States after Mexico and El Salvador.
Indian activists burned an effigy of Mr Trump last week after the migrants on the US plane were flown back in shackles the whole journey, while the opposition accused Mr Modi of weakness.
Mr Modi is the fourth world leader to visit Mr Trump since his return, following the prime ministers of Israel and Japan and the king of Jordan.
Mr Modi assiduously courted Mr Trump during his first term. The two share much in common, with both campaigning on promises to promote the interests of their countries’ majority communities over minorities and both doggedly pursuing critics.
In February 2020, Mr Modi invited Trump before a cheering crowd of more than 100,000 people to inaugurate the world’s largest cricket stadium in his home state of Gujarat.
Mr Trump could visit India later this year for a scheduled summit of the Quad _ a four-way grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
AFP
