Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and former President of United States of America Donald Trump. File.
| Photo Credit: Kamal Narang
Former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (September 18, 2024) that he will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Mr. Modi’s forthcoming visit to the U.S.
Mr. Trump praised Mr. Modi but said India was abusing the U.S.-India trade dynamic, a claim he has made before about India, China, and other countries. Mr. Trump, who is seeking a second term in the White House as the Republican candidate, was speaking to Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders at a campaign event in Flint, Michigan.
“So when India, which is a very big abuser… he happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi…fantastic. I mean, fantastic, man,” Mr. Trump said.
Donald Trump calls Modi ‘fantastic man’
| Video Credit:
The Hindu
Mr. Modi is expected to meet U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia and Japan at the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) summit in Wilmington, Delaware, on September 21, 2024. The Prime Minister is also scheduled to participate in the United Nations ‘Summit of the Future’ and other events in New York on September 22 and 23.
“A lot of these leaders are fantastic … they’re at the top of their game, and they use it against us. But India is very tough,” Mr. Trump said.
He said Brazil and other countries were also “very tough”, with China topping the list.
Mr. Trump, who is known to emphasise trade balances in his foreign policy decision-making, was talking about having a ’reciprocal trade act’ legislating like-for-like tariff rates if elected to the presidency. “The result of this would either be free trade or the U.S. making money,” Mr. Trump said.
The former President had referred to India as the ‘tariff king’ in 2019, during his first term, when he cancelled India’s preferential trading status under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
Vice President Kamala Harris’s office told The Hindu that it did not have anything to announce as of Wednesday (September 18, 2024) morning in terms of a meeting between Mr. Modi and Ms. Harris. The two leaders held bilateral discussions during the last Quad summit in the U.S. in September 2021.
The Government has not yet confirmed any meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump.
Published – September 18, 2024 05:39 am IST
