India and the US rekindled their relationship on a high note Friday with a summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump yielding a range of benefits including US sale of oil, gas and F-35 fighter aircraft to India, a possible mega trade deal and the immediate extradition of Tahawwur Rana.
At his Oval Office in the White House on Thursday (Friday India time), Trump warmly welcomed Modi with a long handshake and a bear hug and described the prime minister as a “great friend” for a long time and a “terrific” man.
Reciprocal Tariffs
Trump said after talks with Modi that India will buy more oil, gas and military hardware from America to bring down the trade deficit while asserting that Washington will not spare New Delhi from reciprocal tariffs. “Whatever India charges, we will charge them,” Trump said.
New partnerships
Trump said he and Modi have reached an agreement that could potentially make the US the “number one supplier” of oil and gas to India. He also said that both sides have decided to expand the overall defence partnership.
Trump greets Modi at the White House
“Starting this year, we will be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars,” Trump said, adding, “We are also paving the way to ultimately provide India with F-35 stealth fighters. He also noted positive momentum in India-US cooperation in the civil-nuclear energy sector.
26/11 terror attacks
“I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the very evil people of the world,” Trump said, referring to 26/11 Mumbai attack accused Tahawwur Rana to India. Rana, currently detained at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles, is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the terror attack in 2008.
Russia-Ukraine war
PM Modi has welcomed President Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine, insisting that a solution to the conflict cannot be found on the battlefield and that dialogue and diplomacy is the only way to bring peace. “I have always been in close contact with Russia and Ukraine. I have met the leaders of both countries. The world somehow feels India has been neutral, but I want to reiterate that India has not been neutral,” he said at a joint media briefing with Trump.
Border row with China
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri reaffirmed India’s commitment to resolving its issues with China through bilateral dialogue, dismissing the need for external mediation. Asked about a potential offer from the US to mediate between India and China, Misri said India’s preference for bilateral talks with its neighbours.
Situation in Bangladesh
Modi also shared with Trump concerns over developments in Bangladesh and how India sees the situation. “We hope the situation would progress for “stable and constructive” relations,” Misri said regarding their meeding.
The donald trump effect…
Tiktok returns to Apple, Google app stores in US
TikTok has returned to the app stores of Apple and Google in the US, after President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a TikTok ban. TikTok, which is operated by Chinese technology firm ByteDance, was removed from Apple and Google’s app stores on January 18 to comply with a law that requires ByteDance to divest the app or be banned in the US. The popular social media app has over 170 million American users.
Taiwan pledges to invest more in America
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Friday he would communicate more with the US over President Donald Trump’s concerns over the chip industry and invest more in the US, hours after Trump ordered reciprocal tariffs on trade partners. Trump said on Thursday that Taiwan had taken away the US chip business and said that he wanted it back in the country. Taiwan’s TSMC is the world’s largest chipmaker and produces chips for companies including Apple, Intel and Nvidia.
US foreign aid flows again, for now
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily lift a three-week funding freeze that has shut down US aid and development programmes worldwide. Judge Amir Ali issued the order on Thursday in a US district court in Washington in a lawsuit brought by two health organisations that receive US funding for programmes abroad. Ali noted that the Trump administration argued it had to shut down funding for the thousands of US Agency for International Development programmes abroad to conduct a thorough review of each programme and whether it should be eliminated but have “not offered any explanation for why a blanket suspension”.
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