Modi Reciprocates Trump's Friend Message
Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump's sentiments and positive assessment of our ties, Modi said.
New Delhi: After months of frosty ties, steps towards rapprochement were taken with US President Donald Trump asserting that he would always be friends with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that there was nothing to worry about regarding the relations between the two countries. Modi, in a brief but prompt response to Trump’s friendly overtures, on Saturday said he appreciated and fully reciprocated Trump's sentiments and positive assessment of ties.
Hours after the US President reaffirmed his personal friendship with the Prime Minister and strong bilateral ties between India and the US, Modi, tagging Trump, posted on X, "Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump's sentiments and positive assessment of our ties. India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking comprehensive and global strategic partnership."
This was the first exchange of views between the two leaders after they held a phone conversation on June 17.
The relations between New Delhi and Washington turned sour after the US imposed a 50 per cent tariff, including 25 per cent additional duties for the purchase of Russian crude oil, on India. India described the US action as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable".
In Washington, on Friday, responding to a question on the possibility of the US resetting relations with India, Trump said both countries have a special relationship and there is "nothing to worry about".
"I will always be friends with Modi. He is a great Prime Minister… he's great. I'll always be friends, but I just don't like what he's doing at this particular moment. But India and the United States have a special relationship. There is nothing to worry about," the US President said.
When asked about his social media post on Thursday suggesting that the US was losing India to China, Trump said, "I don't think we have. I have been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil...from Russia. And I let them know that we put a very big tariff on India -- 50 per cent tariff, a very high tariff. I get along very well with Modi. As you know, he was here a couple of months ago..."
In his social media post on Thursday, Trump said it appeared that the US was losing India and Russia to "deepest, darkest China".
The post came days after the bonhomie among Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Chinese city of Tianjin drew global attention.
In the last few days, several Trump administration officials, including White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, have used offensive language to target India. "India's big oil lobby has turned the largest democracy in the world into a massive refining hub and oil money laundromat for the Kremlin," Navarro said last week. India on Friday rejected Navarro's remarks, describing them as "inaccurate and misleading".
