India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has hailed a “mega partnership” with the US, as he and US President Donald Trump agreed on a deal for Delhi to import more American oil and gas.
Modi’s two-day visit comes as Trump recently ordered that all the US trading partners – including India – should face sweeping reciprocal tariffs.
While both men praised each other’s leadership, Trump criticised India for having some of the highest trade tariffs in the world, calling them a “big problem”.
The Indian leader, seeking to soften impending trade barriers, said he was open to reducing tariffs on US goods, repatriating undocumented Indian nationals and buying military fighter jets from the US.
At a joint news conference, Modi made several references to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, including his own spin to it: “It’s Make India Great Again – Miga,” Modi said.
“Maga plus Miga…[is a] Mega partnership for prosperity”.
Trump also added that India would be “purchasing a lot of our oil and gas” in an effort to close the trade deficit between both countries. They need it. And we have it.
Trump also added that the US would increase sales of military hardware to India by millions of dollars, eventually supplying Delhi with F-35 fighter jets.
The two also spoke about immigration – another pain point in bilateral relations – with Trump announcing that the US would extradite a man who allegedly plotted the 2008 Mumbai terror attack to “face justice in India”.
Modi thanked Trump for allowing the extradition and vowed to accept repatriations of Indian nationals illegally living in the US.
Last week, US deported on a military plane 104 Indians accused of being illegal immigrants, with a video showing deportees in shackles. A second flight is expected to land in India on Saturday.
Indians are one of the largest populations of unauthorised immigrants in the US. They also hold the majority of H-1B visas – a programme that Trump had temporarily banned during his first term and is now coming under fresh scrutiny.
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