WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he has a “very good” relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was a quick change from what he had said before. The announcement occurred just hours after he released a mysterious message on Truth Social, his social media site, that said the US had “lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China.” The message, which included a picture of PM Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conference, made people think there was a big diplomatic rift.
When a reporter confronted Trump about his post and who he thinks is to blame for India’s “loss,” he changed his mind about what he had said before. “I don’t think we have,” he replied. He then remembered that PM Modi had just been to the U.S. and said, “You know I get along very well with (PM) Modi.” He came here a few months ago…
Even if he seemed more conciliatory, Trump didn’t hold back from saying again that he didn’t like India’s energy deal with Russia. “I’ve been very upset that India would buy so much oil from Russia.” “I told them that,” he said. He also talked about the new 50% duty on some Indian products. He said that half of the tariffs were declared as a punishment for the oil trade, which the Trump administration alleges helps pay for Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.
To try to calm things down even more, Trump said he would “always” be friends with PM Modi and talked about the “special relationship” between the two countries. “He is a fantastic Prime Minister, he is great… I don’t like what he’s doing right now, but India and the US have a special bond. He told media, “There’s nothing to worry about.”
Trump’s recent words and deeds have made things tense between the US and India. His government, through people like Peter Navarro and Scott Bessent, has constantly gone after India because of its trading links with Russia. The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi has turned down some of these comments, saying they are “inaccurate” and that India’s trade choices are based on its own interests.
Even though there has been a lot of back and forth, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has tried to calm people down by saying that trade talks with the U.S. are still going on and that there is no need to worry. He said lately that trade talks have “no timeline” and that people need to be patient with them.