It emerged on February 7 that, at the invitation of US President Donald Trump, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to undertake a visit to the United States during February 12-13, according to India’s top diplomat Vikram Misri.
This working visit will include bilateral discussions between Modi and Trump on various aspects of the India-US strategic partnership, including key issues that have emerged in recent times. Misri said this visit comes at a very contentious time in India, especially over the deportation of 104 Indian immigrants by the US, which is being linked to Trump’s immigration policies.
Modi will also hold meetings with business leaders and interact with the Indian diaspora during his US trip. This visit is being seen as a further strengthening of the already close relationship between the two leaders. Misri said, “Prime Minister Modi was among the first global leaders to congratulate US President Donald Trump when he won the elections.
Historically, Modi has paid two visits to the United States during Trump’s first term, in 2017 and 2019, and has continued a dialogue with Trump since the latter’s inauguration-a rather rare rapport between the heads of states.
This is going to be very important, as the opposition criticism in India to the way the deportees coming from the US are treated continuously makes the topic very important to be discussed by Modi and Trump. Apart from that, both the leaders can discuss bilateral trade, where India is keen on strengthening economic ties and simplifying the process of skilled worker visas.
The United States is India’s single largest trading partner, with bilateral trade crossing $118 billion in 2023-24. The country reaped a trade surplus of $32 billion during this period and thus has a reason to be interested in avoiding the possibility of tariffs that Trump has threatened on several occasions, citing high tariffs on US products.
