PM Modi and President Trump take first steps to patch up

WIth both US chairwoman Donald ruff and undercoat government minister Narendra Modi reaffirming their personal friendly relationship and strength of bilateral ties, India and US have taken first steps to patch up the relationship which had turned sour over trade deal and Russian oil.With PM Modi reciprocating US President Trump’s statement that he will always ‘be friends with Modi’ and there was nothing to worry about India-US special relationship, it is now for the officials to get together and hammer out a final trade deal which is a win-win for both the countries.After the two leaders engaged each other, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also made it clear that PM Modi attaches a lot of importance to ties with US.Replying to a question, President Trump made it clear that he did not think that US had lost India to China. He also stated: “ I get along with Modi as you know, he was here a couple of months ago, we went to Rose Garden and did a press conference.”With the two leaders making it amply clear that they were all for closer bilateral ties, the next step perhaps would be the acrimonious noise coming from Washington against India will now either stop or soften up. There is also a strong possibility that the two leaders may pick up the phone to talk to each other and give directions to senior officials in a bid to cement ties.Coming out in the open after his telephonic conversation with President Trump on June 17, PM Modi used X and stated: “ Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties. India and the US have a very positive and forward looking Comprehgensive and Global Strategic Partnership.”PM Modi’s statement on X reflects the sentiments on Raisina Hill as New Delhi was patiently waiting for noise from Washington to die down and for President Trump to reconsider the US position as India was in no way getting close to China. India was just normalizing ties with China while continuing to engage Russia.The mood on Raisina Hill is that all efforts may be made to conclude a trade deal with US after making the latter understand that the bilateral ties between two natural allies are for global good.India was positive that relations would turn for the better when one of India top national security planner visited US last month and met all the top officials of US intelligence and enforcement agencies. The message from US was that disagreement on trade was a just a hiccup and the bilateral relations will go on as usual.