Trump Welcomes Modi With A Hug, PM Says ‘Delighted To See You Back At White House’

<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday was welcomed with a hug from US President Donald Trump as he arrived at the White House for the bilateral meeting.&nbsp;</p>
<p>PM Modi said he is ‘delighted’ to see Trump back at the White House. The Indian Prime Minister was accompanied by External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and India’s Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra as he arrived in the White House for the crucial meeting.</p>
<p>”Together we will march towards progress and prosperity of our two nations,” PM Modi told Trump in the opening remarks during the meeting with President Trump.</p>
<p>”I congratulate you on this grand victory of yours, not just from my side, but on behalf of 140 crore Indians as well. This is a coincidence that people of India chose a prime minister to serve the country for a third straight time after 60 years. It is matter of happiness for me that in this term, I have once again got the opportunity to work with President Trump,” PM Modi said.</p>
<p>The&nbsp;bilateral meeting between the two leaders come as the US President signed a measure to have reciprocal tariffs and called India “a very hard place to do business.”</p>
<p>PM Modi, who is meeting the US President after the January 20 inauguration, is the fourth global leader to meet Trump.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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<p dir=”ltr” lang=”en”>US President Donald Trump welcomes Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House in Washington, DC.<br /><br />(Pic: Dan Scavino, White House Account/X) <a href=”https://t.co/4yI7ruzGRd”>pic.twitter.com/4yI7ruzGRd</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1890158173019115904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<p>Trump, ahead of his meeting with Modi, announced a new reciprocal tariff policy for all the trading partners of the US, a move that could have some impact on India’s trade with the US as well.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Earlier in the day, PM Modi met Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and US NSA Mike Waltz.</p>
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<p dir=”ltr” lang=”en”>VIDEO | Visuals of PM Modi arriving at White House for a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump. <br /><br />(Source: Third Party) <a href=”https://t.co/myw73IYnEW”>pic.twitter.com/myw73IYnEW</a></p>
&mdash; Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) <a href=”https://twitter.com/PTI_News/status/1890152219313614972?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<p>Ahead of the Modi-Trump meeting, diplomatic sources told news agency PTI that the focus of the talks will be on enhancing cooperation in areas of defence, energy, technology, infrastructure and trade.</p>
<p>The Trump administration is particularly keen on expanding Washington’s defence sales to India and the two sides may broadly finalise a couple of deals including co-production of Stryker armoured fighting vehicles in India, the report added. Besides defence, trade is set to be a high priority area in the deliberations between the two leaders as Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on global steel and aluminium imports into the US.</p>
<p>PM Modi, who is on a two-day visit to the US, is staying at the Blair House, the US presidential guest house at the heart of the US capital.&nbsp;The prime minister’s visit to Washington DC comes days after the Trump administration deported 104 Indians in handcuffs and shackles on a military aircraft that sparked outrage in India.</p>