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09-09-2025
Bureau Report
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that New Delhi and Washington still shared “very positive” ties, after US President Donald Trump reaffirmed their personal friendship and downplayed his earlier remarks about “losing India” to China.
The exchange comes amid strains after Washington imposed tariffs of up to 50 per cent on Indian imports, accusing New Dehli of fueling Moscow’s deadly attacks on Ukraine by purchasing Russian oil but Trump and Modi, both right-wing populists, have shared a strong bond since the US president’s first term.
“Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties,” Modi wrote on social media, adding that India and the United States shared a “very positive and forward-looking comprehensive and global strategic partnership”.
Earlier, Trump told reporters that he “will always be friends with Modi”.
“India and the United States have a special relationship. There is nothing to worry about,” Trump said, downplaying his earlier remarks about “losing India” to China.
Last week, Modi visited China to attend a gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, his first visit to the country in seven years signaling a thaw between the two Asian powers.
Trump has appeared irritated at New Delhi as he seeks credit for what he said was Nobel Prize-worthy diplomacy for brokering peace between Pakistan and India following the worst conflict in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors in May.
India, which adamantly rejects any third-party mediation on the Kashmir issue, has since given the cold shoulder to Trump.
Day before yesterday, the US President Donald Trump on Friday said India and Russia seem to have been “lost” to China after their leaders met with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, highlighting his split from New Delhi and Moscow as Beijing pushes a new world order.
“Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China. May they have a long and prosperous future together?” Trump wrote in a social media post accompanying a photo of the three other world leaders together at Xi’s summit in China.
Asked about Trump’s post, the Indian foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters in New Delhi that he had no comment.
Representatives for Beijing and Moscow could not be immediately reached for comment on Trump’s post on his Truth Social platform.
Last month, India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite US President Donald Trump’s threats of penalties, two Indian government sources said, not wishing to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
“These are long-term oil contracts,” one of the sources said. “It is not so simple to just stop buying overnight.” Trump last month indicated in a Truth Social post that India would face additional penalties for purchases of Russian arms and oil. On Friday, Trump told reporters that he had heard that India would no longer be buying oil from Russia.
The New York Times on Saturday quoted two unnamed senior Indian officials as saying there had been no change in Indian government policy, with one official saying the government had “not given any direction to oil companies” to cut back imports from Russia. It was reported this week that Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian oil in the past week after discounts narrowed in July.
