On trade, Trump said the United States now has “fair business” with India, while alleging that India had earlier taken advantage.
New Delhi, Washington: US President Donald Trump has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “very good” and “tough” leader, while praising his tenure for political stability in India, in an interview to Axios.
“I think Modi is very good. Yeah. They've had some very good numbers announced. He stays out of wars, which is smart. He's 1.5 billion people. He's actually the biggest. India's actually the biggest. And Modi's a great leader,” Trump said.
He said Modi’s more than 12-year tenure reflected stability, contrasting it with earlier frequent leadership changes in India.
“Somebody would be there for six months and then a year. And then all of a sudden, Prime Minister Modi ended up; he's been there for more than 12 years, very solid. And he does it through, like, there's a great calmness, and yet he's not a calm person. He's a very tough guy," he said.
On trade, Trump said the United States now has “fair business” with India, while alleging that India had earlier taken advantage.
“And we do a lot of business with them, but now we do fair business. They used to really rip us off. I don't blame them for that. You know, we had stupid politicians that allowed that to happen. But now we do a lot of business,” he said. “They're not that happy about it because they used to do a lot better. So Modi's great,” he added.
Trump also referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a leader of stature and confidence.
“If you were going to make a movie about either one of them, you wouldn't be able to find the man in Hollywood,” he said.
He also mentioned Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif among leaders he likes.
