The India-US bilateral relationship is likely to be reviewed at summit level after US President Donald Trump invites Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House for a visit next week. Trade tariffs and immigration will be on the top of the list, and the first batch of deported immigrants have returned to India.
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Soon after Trump assumed office, the two leaders had a telephone conversation which was described as “productive”. Trump sought a move towards a “fair bilateral trading relationship” and emphasised the importance of India increasing its purchases of US-made security equipment.
The read-out also added that “both leaders emphasised their commitment to advance the US-India strategic partnership and the Indo-Pacific Quad partnership, with India hosting Quad leaders for the first time later this year”.
The US is India’s largest trading partner. Two-way trade in 2023-24 was worth US$118 billion, with India having a surplus of US$32 billion. Trump had earlier described China, India and Brazil as “tremendous tariff-makers”, and in his first term he urged Modi to lift tariffs on the US-made Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
In a signal to Washington, the annual budget presented in New Delhi on February 1 announced major cuts to import tariffs including for high-end motorcycles. Senior officials in the Ministry of Finance claimed that India wants to shed the image of being a protectionist nation and that it is not a “tariff king”.
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While the new and disruptive Trump-triggered trade tariffs and related protocols are an issue with which every major trading partner of the US – including China – is grappling, the more complex dilemma for Delhi is in the security-strategic domain.