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Modi, Trump discuss trade, defence in 'warm' phone call, agree to stay in touch
India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity, PM Modi said in a post on X on Thursday evening.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in enhancing bilateral trade, people familiar with the matter said, amid emerging signals that the two sides may be inching towards a trade deal to address months of strained ties over Washington’s trade and tariff policies.
The two leaders spoke on the phone for the first time since October as the new US deputy trade representative, Rick Switzer, concluded a two-day visit to India, during which he engaged with top officials, including commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal.
“Had a very warm and engaging conversation with President Trump. We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity,” Modi said on social media after the phone conversation.
A readout from the Indian government said the leaders reviewed the “steady progress” in bilateral relations but didn’t provide any details.
The people cited above said on condition of anonymity that the two leaders emphasised the importance of sustaining momentum in efforts to enhance bilateral trade. The people said they also discussed ways to expand cooperation in critical technologies, energy, defence and security, and other priority areas key to the implementation of the India-US COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce and Technology), which was unveiled when they last met face-to-face in Washington in February.
The leaders discussed regional and global developments and agreed to work closely to address shared challenges and advance common interests, the people said. The leaders also expressed satisfaction at the steady strengthening of bilateral cooperation, they said.
As Switzer engaged Indian officials in New Delhi, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said in Mumbai that a trade deal will be done when both India and the US stand to benefit from it and that US Trade Representative should “be signing on the dotted line” if Washington believes it has received the “best offer” from New Delhi.
Goyal’s remarks were a response to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s comments on Wednesday that Washington had received the “best ever” offer from New Delhi for a bilateral trade deal. However, Greer also said India is a “difficult nut to crack” due to New Delhi’s resistance to importing US agricultural goods.
“His [Greer’s] happiness is very much welcome. I do believe that if they are very happy, they should be signing on the dotted line,” Goyal said.
Goyal also said that negotiations with the US were “progressing well” and that the two sides had “substantive discussions” across several rounds. “A deal is only done when both sides stand to benefit. And I don't think we should ever negotiate with deadlines or hard stops because you tend to make mistakes,” he said.
India-US relations fell to their lowest point in almost two decades earlier this year when Trump slapped 25% reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods, and followed it up with a 25% penalty over Russian oil purchases. The 50% US tariffs are the highest globally.
Meanwhile, chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said on Thursday that he expected the trade deal with the US to be concluded by the end of the fiscal year.
“I will be surprised if the India-US deal is not sealed by the end of the financial year. I was hoping that something would be done by the end of November. I agree with you that it has had an impact on investors' sentiments, and as and when the deal is agreed upon, there will be a huge weight lifted off the shoulders of the Indian markets,” he told Bloomberg TV in an interview.
India’s top leadership, including external affairs minister S Jaishankar, have said New Delhi is open to a reasonable trade deal with the US but without compromising on national interests and the welfare of farmers, petty traders and the middle class. The two sides are negotiating hard to find “a landing point for our respective trade interests” because the bilateral trade deal has implications for farmers and small businesses, Jaishankar said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
