New Delhi- Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Donald Trump for the first time since his return to the White House on January 20 for his second term as US President. The two leaders praised their strong bond and hoped for stronger ties and trade deals as the meeting took place amid concerns over Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff plans, which can impact India hard.
PM Modi began a two-day US visit on Thursday with a meeting with US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and also held talks with the world’s richest man Elon Musk at the Blair House in Washington, which is hosting him during his two-day US visit. PM Modi also met Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy.
Right before meeting PM Modi, US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs, stating that the United States will levy the same charges as countries impose on it, singling out India as one of the highest charging countries.
PM Modi’s visit to the US comes after a two-day trip to France, during which he held bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed a wide range of issues, including collaboration on AI and civil nuclear energy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with US President Donald Trump at the White House for high-stakes discussions spanning defence, trade, technology and energy. President Trump welcomed PM Modi with a warm hug before they sat down for talks. The meeting, which follows PM Modi’s pit stop in France, came just hours after President Trump announced a new reciprocal tariff policy targeting all US trading partners, including India.
PM Modi and President Trump’s meeting announced the COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology for the 21st Century), an initiative aimed at transforming bilateral cooperation across defence, investment, trade, energy, innovation, and multilateral partnerships.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump will activate new initiatives under the Quad grouping and convene partners from the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor and the I2U2 Group to announce new initiatives, said the joint statement issued by India and the US after the two leaders met in Washington DC Friday.
The statement said PM Modi and President Trump launched a new bilateral forum, Indian Ocean Strategic Venture, and that they are also expected to announce new partnership initiatives across the Western Indian Ocean, Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.
This comes at a time when President Trump has been talking about walking out of multilateral groupings and initiatives. Sources said this means that Trump is strategic in his approach on which initiatives to invest in. He has walked out of the Paris Climate Agreement, the World Health Organization (WHO), and has threatened North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries by asking them to share the financial burden.
Under the rubric of “Multilateral Cooperation”, the joint statement said PM Modi looks forward to hosting President Trump in New Delhi for the Quad leaders’ Summit, ahead of which the “leaders will activate new Quad initiatives on shared airlift capacity to support civilian response to natural disasters and maritime patrols to improve interoperability”. The Quad grouping comprises India, Japan, Australia and the United States.
Here are the key announcements from the PM Modi-Trump meeting:
Defence
- A new ten-year framework for US-India Major Defence Partnership will be signed later this year. Key developments include expansion of US platforms in Indian defence services, with new deals for Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stryker armoured fighting vehicles and procurement of six additional P8I maritime surveillance aircraft.
- A review of International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to streamline technology transfers and spare part supplies. Opening negotiations for a Reciprocal Defense Procurement (RDP) agreement, expected to facilitate mutual defence purchases.
- Acceleration of defence technology collaboration across space, air defence, missile, maritime, and undersea warfare. The US announced a policy review on releasing fifth-generation fighter jets and undersea warfare systems to India.
- India and the US launched the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) to scale industry partnerships in underwater domain awareness (UDA) technologies. India is the first country with which the US has agreed to co-develop sensitive UDA technologies.
- Discussions are ongoing for joint development and production of Sea Picket Autonomous Surveillance Systems (Thayer Mahan), Wave Glider Unmanned Surface Vehicles (Boeing & Sagar Defence Engineering – 60 units planned for India), Low Frequency Active Towed Sonars (L3 Harris & Bharat Electronics), Multi-Static Active Sonobuoys (Ultra-Maritime & Bharat Dynamics Ltd.), Large Diameter Autonomous Undersea Vehicles (Anduril) and Triton Autonomous Underwater and Surface Vehicles (Ocean Aero).
Trade
- On the economic front, both leaders set a new target — “Mission 500” — to increase bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
- Some of the major economic pacts are a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) by autumn 2025, covering multiple sectors and a commitment to resolving trade barriers, including the controversial reciprocal tariffs.
- Recognition of Indian investments worth $7.355 billion in the US, supporting 3,000 high-quality jobs.
- The trade discussions took place against the backdrop of Trump’s 25 per cent tariff on global steel and aluminium imports, a move that could impact Indian exports.
Technology
- India and the US announced the TRUST (“Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology”) Initiative which will facilitate partnerships between governments, academia, and the private sector in critical and emerging technologies.
- A US-India AI Roadmap to be finalised by the end of the year. Next-generation data centres and AI processing partnerships were also announced.
- INDUS Innovation, modelled after INDUS-X, to advance industry-academic collaboration in space, energy, and biotechnology.
- Expansion of Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing in the US, particularly for critical medicines.
- A Strategic Mineral Recovery initiative to recover and process rare earth minerals, lithium, and cobalt for high-tech industries.
- An MoU was also signed between the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and India’s Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) to boost research collaboration in emerging technologies.
Energy
- PM Modi and President Trump recommitted to the India-US Energy Security Partnership, with plans to support India’s full membership in the International Energy Agency (IEA).
- Move forward with the India-US 123 Civil Nuclear Agreement, enabling US-designed nuclear reactors in India.
- Collaborate on advanced small modular reactors to scale up nuclear energy production.
People-To-People Ties: Migration
- Both leaders committed to expanding joint degrees, offshore campuses, and Centres of Excellence. The 300,000-strong Indian student community in the US contributes over $8 billion annually to the economy.
- Streamlining student and professional mobility, while addressing illegal immigration and human trafficking.
- Strengthening law enforcement ties to combat organised crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism.
Multilateral Cooperation
- On counterterrorism, both countries condemned Pakistan’s failure to act against terrorist networks, demanding accountability for the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks.
- President Trump announced that the extradition of 26/11 convict Tahawwur Rana to India has been approved.
- The Quad alliance (India, US, Japan, Australia), with PM Modi set to host President Trump for the next Quad Leaders’ Summit.
- The India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) and I2U2 Group, with plans to announce new initiatives in 2025.
- The Indian Ocean Strategic Venture, a forum for economic and security cooperation.
- Tech giant Meta’s announcement of a 50,000 km undersea cable project.
US Plans To Sell F-35 Stealth Fighter Jets To India
India and the US unveiled an ambitious plan to ink a new 10-year defence partnership and pursue co-production of key weapons and platforms with President Donald Trump announcing that Washington would increase sales of military hardware to New Delhi by millions of dollars including possible supply of F-35 stealth combat jets.
After their wide-ranging talks at the White House on Thursday (Friday India time), Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump vowed to break “new ground” to support and sustain overseas deployments of the US and Indian militaries in the Indo-Pacific, including for enhancing logistics and intelligence sharing.
India’s proposed procurement of six additional P-8I long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare from the US was officially confirmed. The Indian Navy already operates 11 P-8I aircraft.
The two leaders also announced plans to pursue this year new procurements and co-production arrangements for ‘Javelin’ anti-tank guided missiles and ‘Stryker’ infantry combat vehicles in India to rapidly meet its defence requirements.
The ambitious plan to boost India-US defence ties comes against the backdrop of China’s increasing military muscle-flexing along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as well as in the Indian Ocean Region.
Modi and Trump also called for opening negotiations this year for an India-US Reciprocal Defense Procurement (RDP) agreement to better align procurement systems and enable the reciprocal supply of defence goods and services.
The leaders resolved to accelerate defence technology cooperation across space, air defence, missile, maritime and undersea technologies, with the US announcing a review of its policy on releasing fifth-generation fighters (F-35) and undersea systems to India.
“Starting this year, we will be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars,” Trump said at a joint media briefing with Modi.
“We are also paving the way to ultimately provide India with F-35 stealth fighters,” he added.
The F35 jets are known as the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter aircraft in the world.
Asked at a media briefing if India plans to procure F-35 jets from the US, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, said it is at a proposal stage.
“This is currently something that’s at the stage of a proposal. But I don’t think the formal process in this regard has started yet,” he said.
In his remarks, PM Modi said the US has an important role in India’s defence preparedness.
“As strategic and trusted partners, we are actively moving in the direction of joint development, joint production and transfer of technology,” he said.
“In the coming time, new technology and equipment will increase our capability. We have decided to launch the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance,” he said.
The prime minister said the defence cooperation framework will be created for the next decade, adding defence interoperability, logistics, repair and maintenance will also be its main parts.
Highlighting the deepening convergence of US-India strategic interests, the leaders reaffirmed their “unwavering” commitment to a dynamic defence partnership spanning multiple domains.
To advance defence ties further, the leaders announced plans to sign this year a new 10-year framework for the US-India ‘Major Defense Partnership’ in the 21st Century, a joint statement said.
“They announced plans to pursue this year new procurements and co-production arrangements for ‘Javelin’ anti-tank guided missiles and ‘Stryker’ infantry combat vehicles in India,” it said.
In another important move, the two sides decided to review their respective arms transfer regulations, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), in order to streamline defence trade, technology exchange and maintenance and in-country repair and overhaul of US-provided systems.
Modi and Trump also announced a new initiative – the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) – to scale industry partnerships and production in the Indo-Pacific.
The leaders welcomed a new partnership between Anduril Industries and Mahindra Group on advanced autonomous technologies to co-develop and co-produce state-of-the-art maritime systems and advanced AI-enabled counter Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to strengthen regional security.
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