Modi Thanks Trump for Birthday Wishes
This was the first conversation between the two leaders since June 17, when Trump abruptly left the G7 Summit and flew back to Washington
New Delhi: Signalling a thaw in relations between India and the United States, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to wish him on his 75th birthday. Modi will celebrate his birthday on September 17.
This was the first conversation between the two leaders since June 17, when Trump abruptly left the G7 Summit and flew back to Washington. Relations between the two major democracies had since soured, with Trump imposing an unprecedented 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods.
Announcing the call on social media platform X, Modi wrote: “Thank you, my friend President Trump, for your phone call and warm greetings on my 75th birthday.”
“Like you, I am also fully committed to taking the India–US Comprehensive and Global Partnership to new heights. We support your initiatives towards a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict,” the Prime Minister said.
Earlier in the day, Indian and US trade delegations met for the first time since Washington imposed punitive tariffs on India for importing Russian crude oil. Both sides described the talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement as “positive and forward-looking.”
After discussions with visiting US chief negotiator Brendan Lynch, the Union commerce ministry said efforts would be intensified to achieve an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade deal.
“The discussions were positive and forward-looking and covered various aspects of the trade agreement. It was decided to intensify efforts to achieve an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade agreement,” the ministry noted.
The American side also described the talks as “positive”.
“Lynch had a positive meeting in Delhi with his counterpart ministry of commerce and industry special secretary Rajesh Agrawal on September 16 to discuss next steps in bilateral trade negotiations,” the US embassy spokesperson here said after the meeting.
The talks were originally scheduled to take place between August 25-29 but were postponed after the US imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods following five earlier rounds of talks.
