Articles
Modi’s Visit to the U.S
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BY: Abdelrahman Anwar
Research assistant in the international affairs unit
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the United States of America on the thirteenth of February 2025 and met the US President Donald Trump on a visit that is the first since Trump took over the US administration in a second term, and the great popularity of Modi in his Bharatiya Janata Party weighs on his responsibility towards his people and the need for his commitment to improve their conditions, and implement his ambitious promises towards them at a sensitive time, so this visit came in response to new and flared events, especially after Trump’s return to the White House, as Modi hopes to absorb Trumpian policies and make them less severe towards India as a close ally of the United States.
So, this paper will try to focus on the outcome of the visit, shed the light on the US-Indian relations, and to see how could India deal with the new American administration.
Features of US-India relations: –
There are many aspects of cooperation between the United States and India, as the two countries have close political, economic and military relations, which has made them two allied countries, and this could be explained briefly as follows:
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Politically,
The United States and India held strong relations that exceeds the ideology of the governing parties, as both countries have good diplomatic ties, they are considered two allied states, and there is an understanding between Trump and Modi, and this shown in Trump’s first-term state visit to India in late February 2020 as it was emblematic of this enhanced bilateral relationship, and the importance of defense cooperation within it. While the visit served to reaffirm that the United States is India’s major overall security partner.
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Economically,
The economic ties between the two countries are very strong, as in the fiscal year 2024, bilateral trade in goods amounted to about $118.2 billion, and bilateral trade in goods and services amounted to $190.1 billion in 2023, indicating that the United States is India’s largest trading partner, and both states have somewhat economic understanding as they both consider two great economic powers.
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Military,
India and the United States have security cooperation that plays a key role in the relations between the two countries, represented by the Quad Alliance, which is a pivotal factor in strengthening strategic partnerships within the Quadripartite Alliance that includes the United States, India, Japan and Australia, as well as bilateral military cooperation between the two countries, which includes intelligence exchange, joint exercises and advanced arms trade, all of which make the two countries close allies at all levels.
Timing semantics: –
This visit comes at a very sensitive time for the Indian government, as Donald Trump is active in international issues that have been reflected on its ally India, including the trade war and the imposition of customs on almost all countries of the world, including India, in addition to the deportation file that the Trump administration is working on, including Indian immigrants in the United States, and Modi’s visit to Washington is mandatory in order to discuss these issues.
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Deportation of Indians from the U.S.:
Donald Trump insists on pursuing the plan to make America great again, which in his view requires the deportation of all immigrants who entered the United States illegally, as he takes a strict stance towards illegal immigrants, and the US government deports hundreds of Indians among thousands of others who will be deported, prompting Modi to head to Washington on a trip that is mandatory of its kind.[1]
India is the third largest source of illegal immigrants in the United States after Mexico and El Salvador, and the Pew Research Center estimates that about 750,000 Indians reside in the United States illegally, which is the root of a real crisis between the two governments in light of Trump’s adherence to his strict policies on the immigration file. The number of Indian-Americans in the United States in 2022 was about 4.8 million, of whom immigrants make up two-thirds of that number.[2]
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Internal partisan pressures:
. The scenes of the forcibly deported Indians tied up provoked the anger of the Indian people, as Modi was subjected to pressure from his party Baharatia Janta, in addition to the opposition exploiting that incident to criticize the Modi government in the media and parliament, and Modi bears many burdens for being a populist leader in his party, which strongly supports him, and the choice of a military plane to deport Indian immigrants has provoked intense anger at home, as New Delhi saw it as inappropriate for its citizens to receive such treatment, as it is an ally country with Washington, but the United States of America describes illegal immigrants as criminals and that this is a national security measure, which makes it deal firmly on this file regardless of the nationality of the immigrant.[3]
Motives for the visit: –
However, there are other motives about this visit that are in the interest of both parties, as India hopes to find a settlement with Trump regarding the trade war and his imposition of exorbitant tariffs on various foreign products, and New Delhi takes advantage of Washington’s competitive relations with China at the table with Trump, making it easier for it to achieve what it aspires to through some promises to balance China’s power, and these points can be reviewed in some detail below:
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Discussing customs issues:
On the day of Trump’s inauguration, Modi said on X that he “looks forward to working closely again” with the new president, and that he wants to establish fair trade relations. Washington is India’s largest trading partner, with a trade deficit of $50 billion in India’s favor, and a total trade in goods and services between India and the United States amounted to about $190.1 billion in 2023.[4]
New Delhi fears that this will prompt Trump to impose tariffs on India, similar to what he has imposed on a number of allies, most notably Canada and Mexico, as well as China, a major economic partner of the United States and India.[5]
So, Modi decided to made such a visit to compromise and deal with Trump in trade issues, in a way that serve both economies and enhancing their biliteral relations.
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Balancing Chinese rising influence:
The United States and India share animosity towards China, and although India is trying to quell this hostility and mutual suspicion, it is taking effective steps to enable it to compete with China in the near or distant future, as it is strengthening its partnership with Washington and enhancing the strategic relation between them in the Indo-Pacific region.
India has somehow a rapprochement with China, this may be beneficial to the United States in one way or another with having Donald Trump in office, and his intention to launch a trade war with China, as from a security perspective, this rapprochement is a good step towards establishing peace in the region between two nuclear powers and preventing any possibility of escalation between them, on the other hand, Washington will devote itself to strengthening its relations with India, making it a strong strategic ally that balances China’s weight in the Indo-Pacific region, In addition, the Indian-Chinese rapprochement could play a pivotal role as a link between Washington and Beijing in any possible future escalation between both countries.
Outcomes of the visit: –
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Enhancing biliteral relations:
“We will strengthen our economic ties and bring greater fairness and reciprocity to our trade relationship with India,” Trump said in his meeting with Modi, a promise that, if fulfilled, would ease Modi’s burden in Trump’s trade war with the world. “I agreed with the Indian prime minister to work together to help build one of the greatest trade routes in history,” he said, noting that it would “run from India to Israel to Italy to the United States.” He said that “the trade route is a major development and a lot of money will be spent on it”, as this could be a major step in counterbalancing Chinese Belt and Road initiative.[6]
During Trump and Modi White House meeting on Thursday,13 Feb, 2025 both leaders focused on tariffs, trade, and defence cooperation as they agreed on targeting a $500 billion trade goal by 2030, as it will be nearly doubling from what it is.[7]
They also discussed some key sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and strategic minerals, with both leaders emphasizing the need for a mutually beneficial trade agreement, as Modi offered to ease India’s tariffs on the U.S. goods and buy more U.S. oil, gas, and F35 fighter jets, they also spoke about making the U.S. the number one supplier of oil and gas to India, Modi also met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and discussed Musk’s plans for artificial intelligence and technology, including the launch of Starlink and Tesla’s entry into the Indian market.[8]
PM Modi assured that India is willing to take back its nationals living illegally in the US and called for joint efforts to dismantle human trafficking networks, but it most notably that both leaders avoided discussing sensitive issues such as minority rights, drawing some criticism from advocacy groups.[9]
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Security cooperation: