On the Bangladesh crisis, which led to the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government last year, Donald Trump rejected speculation of the involvement of the US deep state. "I will leave Bangladesh to PM Modi," the President said.
The key takeaways from the Modi-Trump meeting were the extradition of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana to India and the F-35 jet deal.
Trade, defence, and immigration took centrestage during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump.
The high-profile bilateral meeting close on the heels of US President announcing sweeping reciprocal tariffs, asserting that India "is right at the top of the pack".
The key takeaways from the whirlwind meeting, coming within the first month of Trump's presidency, were the extradition of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana to India and the F-35 jet deal.
In a major boost to defence ties, Trump said the US would increase its military sales to India by "billions of dollars" and it would provide fifth generation F-35 stealth jets to the country. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri later said the deal was at "proposal stage" and the formal process was yet to start.
Much of the remarks of Donald Trump and PM Modi during the joint briefing focused on trade. PM Modi said the two nations have set a USD 500 billion target for bilateral trade. Trump also announced a deal with India to import more US oil and gas.
A key announcement was the extradition of 26/11 terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana, a longstanding demand of India.
"My administration has approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, one of the very evil people of the world, to face justice in India," Trump said.
Despite the tariff shadow, the bonhomie between the two leaders was clearly visible as Trump and Modi shared a warm hug and lauded their partnership.
Modi said only Trump had a "copyright on the word deal", with the US President reciprocating by asserting that Modi was a "much tougher and much better negotiator" than him.
PM Modi added his own twist to Trump's "MAGA" (Make America Great Again) slogan while lauding the partnership of two nations. "In India, we are working towards a Viksit Bharat, which in American context translates into MIGA (Make India Great Again).
When US and India work together, this MAGA plus MIGA becomes a 'MEGA' partnership for prosperity," PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister, when asked about the Russia-Ukraine war, said India stood by peace as he praised Trump's efforts to douse the crisis. "The world thinks India is neutral, but India is not neutral. India has its own stance, it is peace," Modi said.
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