PM Modi’s US Visit: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the United States on February 12 and 13. The Prime Minister will be among the first few world leaders to visit the United States after US President Donald Trump’s second term began a few weeks ago.
The two leaders had shared warm relations during Trump’s first term. They held a phone call last week, which both sides called “productive.” This update on PM Modi’s crucial visit comes amid uproar in India over the deportation of illegal Indian immigrants and Trump’s tariff threats to New Delhi.
“The fact that the Prime Minister has been invited to visit the US within barely three weeks of the new administration taking office shows the importance of the India-US partnership and reflects the bipartisan support this partnership enjoys in the United States,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters in New Delhi on Friday.
Last year in December, Trump reiterated his intention to impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation for the high tariff imposed by India on the import of certain American products. While making these remarks, the US President stated that India and Brazil were among the countries that impose high tariffs on certain U.S. products. “Reciprocal. If they tax us, we tax them the same amount. They tax us. We tax them. And they tax us. Almost in all cases, they’re taxing us, and we haven’t been taxing them,” Trump had told reporters back then.
The visit, the top diplomat stressed, would be a valuable opportunity to engage the new administration in all areas of mutual interest. The Prime Minister will hold a bilateral meeting with President Trump in both restricted and delegation-level formats. “Senior US administration figures are also expected to call on PM Modi during the visit, while he will also have the opportunity to interact with the business leaders and members of the Indian community,” the Foreign Secretary further stated.
Reckoning that it has been one of India’s strongest international partnerships in recent years, Misri said that the PM’s visit is in line with New Delhi’s steady engagement with the new US administration following the election of President Trump in November 2024.
“Prime Minister Modi visited the US on two occasions during President Trump’s first term—in 2017 and 2019. This time, after his election victory, PM Modi was one of the first world leaders to call and congratulate him. The PM again called him after the inauguration, and it was on that occasion that they agreed to meet very soon. This is the promise and the commitment that is now unfolding,” he said.
Another big issue that is likely to be in focus during the Prime Minister’s visit will be immigration issues, as it comes against the backdrop of 104 illegal Indians being deported by the US on a military aircraft. The issue led to uproar and protests in Parliament, with the opposition led by the Congress flagging the “inhuman manner” in which the Indians were deported with handcuffs and their legs chained.
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, who attended President Trump’s inauguration last month in Washington, also had his first meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. During his visit, EAM Jaishankar also met with the new US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, a former congressman.
