"If I could be of help, I'd love to help,,,," - says Trump on helping resolve border dispute between New Delhi and Beijing

US President Donald Trump during bilateral meeting with PM Narendra Modi offered to mediate to end the longstanding border issues between India and China along the LAC. 

"If I could be of help, I'd love to help, because that should be stopped... It's quite violent," he said.

Days after the US deported 104 Indians, PM Modi stressed that India was fully prepared to take back "verified" citizens living in America illegally. He called for joint efforts to end the ecosystem of human trafficking.

The two leaders announced the launch of the 'TRUST' initiative for greater collaboration among governments, academia and the private sector to drive innovation in defence, AI, semiconductors, energy and space.

Trump also admired the "negotiating" skills of PM Modi. "He is a much tougher negotiator than me, and he is a much better negotiator than me. 

There is not even a contest," he said. He also called the PM a "great friend for a long time".

India's benchmark indexes opened higher on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump said the Indian Prime Minister offered to talk about lowering tariffs, easing some worries over reciprocal duties. (Reuters reported)

The Nifty 50 (.NSEI), opens new tab was up 0.35% to 23,111.95 as of 9:18 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex (.BSESN), opens new tab gained 0.37% to 76,420.5.

Eleven of the 13 major sectors advanced. The broader, more domestically-focussed smallcaps (.NIFSMCP100), opens new tab and midcaps (.NIFMDCP100), opens new tab traded flat.  

"We're also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters," said Trump.

Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary, later said the F-35 deal was a proposal at this point, with no formal process underway. 

Although Trump had a warm relationship with Modi in his first term, he again on Thursday said India's tariffs were "very high" and promised to match them, even after his earlier levies on steel and aluminum hit metal-producing India particularly hard.

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.

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. 

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