Modi and Trump likely to meet on February 13, Trump may host a dinner for PM

1. Modi and Trump likely to meet on February 13, Trump may host a dinner for PM

Modi and Trump likely to meet on February 13, Trump may host a dinner for PM ByPrashant Jha Feb 04, 2025 02:15 AM IST Share Via Copy Link PM Modi is expected to arrive in Washington DC on the evening of February 12 after wrapping up his visit to France, and will stay in the US capital till Feb 14.

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet US President Donald Trump on February 13 in Washington DC, people familiar with the development said. Trump is also likely to host a dinner for Modi during the PM’s visit.

Donald Trump told reporters after their first call that PM Modi was likely to visit the White House in February (AFP FILE PHOTO)

Modi is expected to arrive in Washington DC on the evening of February 12 after wrapping up his visit to France, and will stay in the US capital till February 14. He is expected to have other engagements both with American corporate leaders and with the community.

After their first call since he took office last Monday, Trump told reporters that Modi was likely to visit the White House in February. The Indian side has been keen on an early engagement between leaders, banking on the personal rapport between Modi and Trump to pave the way for both deeper collaboration and prevent potentially difficult issues from undermining the relationship.

In the readout of the call, the White House said that Trump had emphasised to Modi the importance of India buying more made-in-US security equipment and moving towards a fair trade relationship. In the wake of Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, the conversation on trade has assumed even more salience.

People familiar with the administration’s thinking have said that Trump is determined to reduce the US’s trade deficit with India and bat more aggressively for American commercial interests in India in this term with a clear focus on outcomes. The Indian side has already signaled its willingness to make more energy purchases, and in the recent budget, reduced customs duties on key items that may benefit US companies. The announcement of the intent to amend the nuclear liability legislation in the budget also opens room for more commercial nuclear cooperation with the US.

Trump had indicated that he discussed the issue of illegal immigration with Modi and Modi would “do the right thing”. India has already said it will take back all those Indians who had illegally entered the US after they were duly identified as Indian. The scale of the issue remains uncertain and the management of the optics around it is politically sensitive, especially given that a large number of illegal immigrants are from Gujarat.

Also Read: Ahead of Trump-Modi’s February meet, a 5-fold challenge for India’s diplomacy

On the strategic side, there is an expectation that both sides will signal continued technology cooperation, either within the same framework of the initiative on critical and emerging technologies or a repackaged initiative of a similar kind. The US is also keen on greater interoperability between the militaries of both sides, and has sent signals that it is willing to have a look at export control regulations contingent on Indian defence acquisitions.

With external affairs minister S Jaishankar already participating in a Quad foreign ministers’ meeting after the new US administration took over, and the readout of the call between Trump and Modi reaffirming the importance of the grouping, the visit is likely to see a commitment by Trump to visit India later this year to attend the Quad leaders’ summit.

Trump’s national security council is directly handling the visit from the US side, with national security advisor Michael Waltz and Ricky Gill, the senior director for South and Central Asia, taking the lead.

The visit will take place at a time when the US administration still does not have its core personnel on the India account in the rest of the administration. In the state department, both assistant secretary Donald Lu and deputy assistant secretary Nancy Jackson have moved on. The administration has not announced its appointee for the assistant secretary post, with Eric Meyer — whose last three field postings have been in Norway, North Macedonia and Kazakhstan — temporarily serving as the senior bureau official for South and Central Asia.

At Pentagon, the administration hasn’t announced its pick for assistant secretary, and the deputy assistant secretary for south and southeast Asia is John Andrew Byers, who incidentally has advocated a policy of restraint vis a vis China. Trump has also not announced a US ambassador for India yet.

Given the time constraints and the lack of adequate personnel and inter-agency deliberations on the US side, it is likely that the visit’s core focus will be to ensure that Trump and Modi re-establish their personal connection, lay out priorities and the vision for the relationship, and send a signal to the rest of the system on how to build convergences and manage divergences.