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07-11-2025
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump speaks often with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and trade teams from both countries continue to hold talks, the White House said on Tuesday.
“The president and his trade team continue to be in very serious discussions with India,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “I know the president has great respect for Prime Minister Modi, and they speak pretty frequently.”
Trump said last week in South Korea that he wanted to reach a trade deal with India signaling a thaw in relations that soured to their lowest point in decades after the US president doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50% as punishment for India’s purchases of Russian oil.
Indian refiners cut Russian oil imports after Washington imposed sanctions last week on Moscow’s top two crude exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil.
Trump has ‘great respect’ for PM Modi: White House
Addressing a press briefing on Tuesday (local time), White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “the President is positive and feels very strongly about the India-US relationship. A few weeks ago, he spoke to the Prime Minister directly when he celebrated Diwali in the Oval Office with many high-ranking Indian-American officials here at the White House.”
She added that the US has “a great Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor,” and confirmed that Trump’s trade team is engaged in “very serious discussions” with New Delhi. “I know the President has great respect for Prime Minister Modi and they speak pretty frequently,” she added.
India-US ties
Leavitt’s remarks come just days after former US President Trump claimed that India had drastically reduced its purchases of Russian oil, describing New Delhi as “very good” on the issue during his recent five-day Asia tour. His comments marked another in a series of statements since mid-October asserting that Prime Minister Modi assured him India would curb or halt crude imports from Moscow.
Trump’s claims are part of his administration’s broader push to economically isolate Russia through sanctions and energy restrictions amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) responded to Trump’s statements, reiterating that the country’s energy sourcing decisions are guided solely by national interests and consumer welfare.
So far, five rounds of negotiations have been completed for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement between India and the United States. However, relations between the two countries have come under strain following Washington’s decision in August to impose steep 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods including an additional 25 per cent import duty tied to India’s continued purchase of Russian crude oil.
New Delhi had sharply criticized the move, calling it “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable,” while Trump described US-India trade relations as a “totally one-sided disaster.”
Last week, India and the US have signed a framework agreement to expand defence cooperation over the next 10-years. The pact was announced after a meeting between US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh in Kuala Lumpur.
The agreement will enhance “coordination, information sharing and tech cooperation” and advance “regional stability and deterrence”, Hegseth said on social media. It comes as the two countries are trying to close a trade deal and tide over tense ties after US President Donald Trump slapped 50% tariffs on India, including a 25% penalty for buying Russian oil and arms. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
