NEW DELHI had in June said that US President Donald Trump had accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to visit India for the Quad Leaders’ Summit later this year, but according to a New York Times report Trump may not be visiting India this fall. There is, however, no confirmation from New Delhi or Washington on the proposed visit.
Both countries were expected to complete the negotiations over the bilateral trade agreement and wrap up the deal during Trump’s visit to India. India was one of the first countries to start discussions over a trade deal with the US way back in February, but President Trump has taken exception to India’s purchase of Russian oil and levied an extra 25 per cent tariff on top of the reciprocal tariff of 25 per cent imposed on India.
US halted talks and held back from sending its team to New Delhi for another round of negotiations scheduled on August 25. Sources in the Commerce and Industry Ministry in New Delhi too said it was not practical to hold trade talks with the additional 25 per cent tariffs being imposed on India’s exports to the US.
As per a NYT report on Saturday, which cited people aware of the President’s schedule, “After telling (Indian Prime Minister Narendra) Mr Modi that he would travel to India later this year for the Quad summit, Mr. Trump no longer has plans to visit in the fall, according to people familiar with the president’s schedule.”
The report also claims that it was the June 17 phone call between Modi and Trump, after the US President made a hasty exit from the G7 Summit in Canada’s Kananaskis, which soured things between them. President Trump had asked Modi if he would come to the US on his way back from Canada, but the Prime Minister cited his inability to do so citing prior engagements.
In the days after the ceasefire in hostilities between India and Pakistan on May 10, President Trump had made repeated claims about having “solved” the war.
New Delhi had repeatedly set the record straight, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) saying that it was after a call from the Pakistan DGMO to the Indian side, that the cessation of military action was announced. However, President Trump repeated his claims publicly on many occasions, despite New Delhi’s statement, even claiming he threatened both India and Pakistan over trade, which forced them to stop the war.
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“During a phone call on June 17, Trump brought it up again, saying how proud he was of ending the military escalation,” says the NYT report, “He mentioned that Pakistan was going to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honour for which he had been openly campaigning. The not-so-subtle implication, according to people familiar with the call, was that Modi should do the same.”
As per a statement by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri after the 35-minute phone call on June 17, which he said was the “first” between the two leaders since April 22, “Prime Minister Modi clearly conveyed to President Trump that at no point during this entire sequence of events was there any discussion, at any level, on an India-US Trade Deal, or any proposal for a mediation by the US between India and Pakistan. The discussion to cease military action took place directly between India and Pakistan through the existing channels of communication between the two armed forces, and it was initiated at Pakistan’s request.”
Misri said, “Prime Minister Modi firmly stated that India does not and will never accept mediation. There is complete political consensus in India on this matter.” The statement however, said, Vice President JD Vance had made a phone call to Prime Minister Modi on May 9, conveying that Pakistan may launch a major attack on India. “Prime Minister Modi had conveyed to him in clear terms that if such an action were to occur, India would respond with an even stronger response,” Misri said.
The dispute has played out against the backdrop of the ongoing trade talks. The NYT report also claims that “his (the Indian Prime Minister’s) officials were scandalized that Mr. Trump might try to force their leader into a handshake with Pakistan’s army chief, who had also been invited to the White House for lunch around the same time.”
