- President Trump softened his tone on India, calling PM Modi a "great prime minister" and citing special ties
- PM Modi responded with appreciation but did not call Trump a friend, signalling cautious engagement
- Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods in August over trade barriers and Russian oil purchases
New Delhi is proceeding with caution after President Donald Trump appeared to soften his tone against India following weeks of tensions between the two nations marked by the US's 50% tariffs on goods from the South Asian country.
Trump said at the White House on Friday there was “nothing to worry about” with US-India ties and the two countries had a “special relationship.” He called Narendra Modi a “great prime minister” and said he would always be friends with him. PM Modi responded hours later with a post on X, saying he “deeply” appreciated and reciprocated the sentiments.
Officials in New Delhi said they viewed Trump's comments as positive, but unlike in the past, PM Modi didn't refer to the US president as a friend, suggesting the prime minister was proceeding with caution. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Trump's comments don't signify a resetting in ties, and they would wait for more reassuring signals from Washington before relations can return to normal.
Ministry of External Affairs didn't immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside of normal business hours.
“I don't expect a dramatic turnaround in ties,” said Pramit Pal Choudhuri, India practice head of the Eurasia Group. “These tactics are outlined in Trump's book, The Art of the Deal.” The US president will use every leverage possible to attack, threaten and “wear out the opponent and then make a generous gesture,” he said.
Trump upended decades of US diplomacy by slapping 50% tariffs on India in August to punish the country for its trade barriers and buying oil from Russia. The US president has accused India of funding Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine through the oil purchases, thereby undermining the US's efforts to clinch a peace deal between the two sides.
Officials in New Delhi attribute Trump's softer tone on India to several factors, including PM Modi's meetings with Putin and President Xi Jinping in China last week at a regional security and economic summit. Photos and videos of the event showed the three leaders laughing and holding hands as they chatted, a powerful symbol of shifting economic and political ties. Trump posted on social media on Friday that “we've lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China.”
Despite the positive comments from President Trump and PM Modi, both sides remain far apart in resolving key issues that have led to the impasse. Trump officials like Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Peter Navarro, the president's trade adviser, have ratcheted up their criticism against India in recent days, while senior ministers in PM Modi's cabinet remain defiant.
Lutnick said in an interview on Bloomberg TV last week that it was “ridiculous” that India continued to buy oil from Russia despite the ongoing conflict with Ukraine and that the country needed to pick a side. He predicted India would apologise and join trade negotiations again.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Friday the country will continue to buy Russian oil in defiance of Trump's demands. New Delhi will make decisions about energy purchases and costs based on “what suits us best,” she said in an interview with local media.
External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in a brief statement on Saturday that PM Modi attaches “enormous importance” to relations with the US and New Delhi remains “engaged” with Washington.
President Trump and PM Modi have shared warm personal ties going back to the US president's first term. PM Modi was one of the first leaders to meet with Trump after he returned to the White House, with both exchanging greetings and bear hugs in Washington in February, and pledging to strike a trade deal before the end of the year.
Even so, Trump has consistently criticised India for its high trade barriers, calling the country a “tariff king.” The two sides failed to reach a trade agreement despite months of negotiations, with New Delhi unwilling to compromise on key issues, such as opening up its agriculture and dairy markets to US exports.
Former US officials have criticised the Trump administration's about-turn on India diplomacy, saying it's undermined Washington's efforts to build the country into a bulwark against China.
Former US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a podcast interview that America's allies now see the US as a problem while China is gaining credibility. The Trump administration could end up “driving India directly into its adversaries' arms,” he wrote in a joint article with Kurt Campbell, former US deputy secretary of state, in Foreign Affairs magazine.
“At the most, Trump's comments is a signal and India has reacted with cautious optimism,” said Smruti S Pattanaik, a fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, a government-backed think tank in New Delhi. “It is not clear whether this would have any bearing on tariffs or whether this marks a change in the US's approach to India,” she added.
