WASHINGTON – The Trump administration official says President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss a wide range of topics on Thursday, including defense, energy, infrastructure, trade and regional partnerships.
Modi will visit Trump at the White House in the afternoon. He will be the third foreign leader to visit Trump since returning to the White House after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Japanese Prime Minister.
One senior official said the administration is trying to expand its defensive sales to India and that the president will prioritize the country as a key importer of American energy as it aims to increase US energy exports. In trade, Trump and Modi are expected to discuss ways to improve US-India trade relations and reduce bilateral trade deficits.
The President signed a major memorandum hours before the meeting, hours before announcing plans to impose mutual tariffs on all countries that it imposes on the United States.
“And in trade, I have decided that I will charge mutual tariffs for the purposes of fairness. No more, no less,” Trump said.
“In other words, they charge us taxes or duties and we charge them the exact same taxes or duties,” he added.
Regarding regional partnerships, Trump administration officials will discuss whether he and Modi will strengthen the quad partnership between the US, India, Japan and Australia to promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. He said he was expected.
One official noted the importance of US-India relations in the US Indo-Pacific strategy, noting that geopolitical and economic factors exist.
“Some people may argue that this is one of the most important, if not the most important bilateral relationship of the 21st century,” the official said. . “President Trump can guarantee he will do his part.
