Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a “very open and productive” meeting with US President Donald Trump, including on bilateral trade issues, as the two leaders pledged to provide a “strong leadership” to the world to address pressing global challenges like terrorism.
Modi, who is in Osaka, Japan to attend the G20 Summit, thanked President Trump for expressing his “love towards India” in a letter delivered by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week.
The Prime Minister said that India stands committed to further deepen economic and cultural relations with the US and the two leaders discussed Iran, 5G, bilateral relations and defence ties on the sidelines of the summit.
“The talks with @POTUS were wide ranging. We discussed ways to leverage the power of technology, improve defence and security ties as well as issues relating to trade,” Modi tweeted after the meeting.
“India stands committed to further deepen economic and cultural relations with the US,” he said.
Briefing reporters, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said the meeting was “very open and productive”.
In a readout of the Trump-Modi meeting, the White House said the two leaders met to exchange perspectives on progress in the strategic partnership and develop new ideas to bring it to the next level.
The leaders acknowledged the unprecedented breadth and depth of US-India bilateral ties, including economic, trade, energy, defense and security, counter-terrorism and space, it said.
“The leaders affirmed that, as responsible democracies, a close partnership between the United States and India is central to global peace and stability,” the readout said.
“They reiterated their commitment to provide strong leadership to address global challenges and build prosperity for their citizens in the decades to come,” it added.
On Iran issues
On Iran, the foreign secretary said Modi outlined India’s energy concerns as well as worries over peace and stability in the region.
He pointed out that although Iran supplies 11 per cent of India’s energy, it has reduced oil imports from Iran though it has affected the Indian economy.
“We have been able to sustain this position and we also had our diaspora in the region, we have energy requirements in the region, we have economic interest in the region, therefore it is in India’s fundamental interest to maintain peace and stability in the region,” the Prime Minister was quoted as telling President Trump.
On the issue of 5G telecommunications technology, Modi and Trump discussed the technical and business opportunities that this new area provides for cooperation between India and the US.
Modi outlined that India was going to have a billion users of this technology in that sense it was the second largest market in the world.
On Iran, Trump said: “We have a lot of time. There’s no rush, they can take their time. There is absolutely no time pressure”.