By Arun Srivastava
US President Donald Trump welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a warm hug at his Oval Office in the White House on Thursday while describing Modi as a “great friend” for a long time and saying that they decided to take a big leap in broad-basing their strategic ties, but nonetheless did not forget to warn that India won’t be spared from higher tariffs he’s begun imposing on U.S. trade partners around the world.
What was most noticeable, Trump maintained a stoic silence on the issue of inhuman deportation of Indians and emphatically asserted that Washington wants a level playing field. Usually a visit of the Indian prime minister to America is expected to be of extraordinary nature and of political implications. But nothing of such dimension was noticed.
Even the international media was astonished at Modi’s reluctance to raise the issue of Indian immigrants. Some newspapers carried headings like “Modi Is Placating Trump on Illegal Migration, Despite Opposition at Home”. It quite surprising what forced the international media to form this opinion. The claim of shoring up cooperation in areas like energy, critical technologies and connectivity was there but there was no positive news on the fate of thousands of Indian immigrants including H-1B visa holders.
Undeniably Trump used the occasion to impose his diktat on India, the most attractive and profit making market for America. And interestingly he did it by using catchy and rosy words like “there exists “special bond” between the world’s oldest and largest democracies”. As expected Trump used the docility of the Indian Prime Minister, in the wake of his threat to increase tariff, to push through his business interest. After the meet, he along with Modi told a joint press conference; “Starting this year, we will be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars. We are also paving the way to ultimately provide India with F-35 stealth fighters”. A closer look at the proceedings reveals that Modi remained a silent spectator to Trump’s diktats.
In fact Modi used the available opportunity to please Trump. Just listen what he has to say immediately before holding bilateral talks. “I appreciate how President Trump always keeps his country first. I do the same – that is something that we have in common”. His desire to get a goody-goody response from Trump got materialised in Trump saying; “He is doing a great job in India and he (PM Modi) and I share a great friendship and we will continue to build on ties between our nations.”
But one thing was quite perceptible and clear that pleasing both Trump and the Indian public won’t be easy for Modi. He ultimately did not raise the issue of illegal deportation and also compromised the business interest. Modi though said that if “people are living in the US illegally, India is ready to take them back”, the least he could have told Trump that these people must be provided a humane treatment. He however confessed that illegal immigrants are generally people from ordinary families who are “shown big dreams, and most of them are misled and brought” to the United States. Yet another mechanism to please Trump was Modi’s public message that he is determined to “Make India Great Again,” or “MIGA”—a play on the President’s “MAGA” or “Make America Great Again” catchphrase and movement.
While extending support to Trump on the matter, he said “Our bigger fight is against that entire ecosystem and we are confident that President Trump will fully cooperate with India in finishing this ecosystem.” Unfortunately the Indian government has no official data on the number of illegal immigrants in the US.
Nevertheless independent studies point out that in year 2020, there were 19,883 Indians identified at the northern, southern and coastal U.S. borders, followed by 30,662 in 2021. In 2022, this number doubled to 63,927. The number of Indian immigrants who crossed the borders into the U.S. peaked in 2023, with 96,917, before dropping to 90,415 in 2024. In just the first three months of the 2025 fiscal year, which started in October 2024, 18,625 Indians had crossed the U.S. borders — close to the number of Indians who had crossed the borders in the entire fiscal year of 2020. This flow of Indians to US picked up momentum during the rule of Modi. The people nursed that Modi having a friend in Trump will help them acquire a better future in US.
It is said that the Indian trade and business circle at home is feeling despondent at Trump’s reluctance to cut the proposed tariff. The US is India’s largest export destination and ranks among its top two trade partners in several sectors, including technology, trade, defence and energy. The two-way trade between the US and India touched an all-time high of $118bn in 2023-24.
During his campaign for the 2024 election, Trump labelled India a “very big abuser” of trade and threatened tariffs. After getting elected he forced India to buy more US-made security equipment as a way to reduce the imbalance in their trade. India is familiar with the risks of a tariff war with the US. In 2018, Trump had imposed tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium imported from India.
If the sources are to be relied, Modi has succeeded in convincing Trump not to complicate the issue of port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman, where India has made a multimillion-dollar investment in the hopes of developing a strategically located maritime facility. It is said that Adani also has his stake in the port. The port allows India to send food, aid and other commodities to landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia via Iran.
Incidentally Adani involvement in criminal act featured prominently at the press meet. Shockingly, even Trump who is supposed to be outspoken evaded a question from a reporter on the US Department of Justice’s bribery charges against the Adani Group. An American reporter had asked: “Can I ask whether you discussed at all today the case of Gautam Adani, who’s one of the wealthiest men in Asia and perceived as an ally of Prime Minister Modi? Prime Minister Modi, have you asked the President to take action on that case?”
Modi who answered in Hindi after Trump did not take the question, ironically evaded saying India is a democratic country and our culture and our thought, our philosophy is Vasudeva Kutumbakam. Two leaders of two countries don’t meet to discuss anything on an individual matter”. The news men covering the occasion however interpreted his body language – gesturing with his hands as he spoke – to mean that Modi was irked by the question. (IPA Service)
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