Trade, defence and nuclear-ties on agenda of PM Modi-Trump summit in US

NEW DELHI: Trade, defence and nuclear cooperation are likely to dominate PM Narendra Modi's first bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump next week on Feb 12-13. Announcing Modi's official working visit, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said the PM would be among the first world leaders to visit the US in the first few weeks of the second Trump administration, in a sign of the bipartisan US support for the partnership with India.

Modi will fly to Washington from Paris where he will participate in an AI summit on Feb 10 and 11 and also have a bilateral meeting with President Emmanuel Macron.

Modi will have restricted and delegation-level talks with Trump and interact with business leaders, as well as the Indian community, on Feb 13. Officials, however, didn't comment on speculation that Elon Musk might call on Modi during the visit.

While Misri did not confirm that the negotiations with the first Trump administration for a trade deal would be resumed, he said very intense discussions are likely on trade and investment as this remained a priority issue for India. India is hoping for a restoration of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) trade benefits that had been revoked by the previous Trump administration. The talks are also expected to see some progress in the negotiations for joint development of small modular reactors.

Misri said there has been a very close rapport between Trump and Modi, dating back to the US leader's first term. "There is a clear convergence of interests between the two countries in several areas, including trade, investment, technology, defence, counter-terrorism, Indo-Pacific and people to people contacts," he said.

"The visit will be a valuable opportunity to engage the new administration on all areas of mutual interest. This has been one of our strongest international partnerships in recent years and the prime minister's visit is in line with our steady engagement with the new administration," he added.

Misri said the 5.4 million-strong Indian community in US and more than 350,000 Indian students pursuing higher education in American universities further strengthen the bond between India & US.


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