Donald Trump shifts tone, says US ties with India are ‘special’

< warm> booker t. Washington/ young new delhi: President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “great Prime Minister” and described India-US relations as experiencing a “momentary hiccup” on Friday, saying there was “nothing to worry about” in the bilateral relationship.

The remarks represent a notable shift in tone for Trump, who just one day earlier said that America had “lost” India and Russia to China, while members of his administration separately amped up the rhetoric against New Delhi.

Asked specifically about his social media post referencing losing “India and Russia to deepest, darkest China,” Trump replied: “I don’t think we have [lost India]. I’ve been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil…from Russia. And I let them know that.”

“I’ll always be friends with Modi. He’s a great Prime Minister. But I just don’t like what he’s doing right now. But India and the United States have a very special relationship. There’s nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

The president added he was open to resetting ties with India after weeks of tension over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian energy, which the US cited as grounds to slap 25% punitive tariffs on imports from India – taking the total levy to 50%.

Modi responded quickly to Trump’s remarks, posting on X within hours of the president’s comments in what marked the first positive exchange between the two leaders since they last spoke by telephone on June 17.

“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 Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership,” Modi wrote.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar said Modi attaches “enormous importance” to India’s partnership with the US. “Where President Trump is concerned, he [Modi] has always had a very good personal equation with President Trump. But the point is that we remain engaged with the US, and at this time, I can’t say more than that,” he said.

Modi and Trump last spoke on phone on June 17, after they were unable to meet on the margins of the G7 Summit in Canada. That phone call was initiated at Trump’s request and lasted about 35 minutes. Against the backdrop of Trump’s repeated claims that he had brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan to end their hostilities in May and that he had used the issue of trade to get both sides to stop fighting, Modi, according to a statement by foreign secretary Vikram Misri at the time, told the American leader that a trade deal had not figured in any discussions between the Indian and US sides in the context of the Pakistan issue.

The exchange came within hours of Trump’s post on Truth Social that America had “lost” India and Russia to “deepest, darkest, China” following Modi’s participation in a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit featuring prominent visuals with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier on Friday, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick escalated pressure on India, demanding New Delhi “decide which side they want to be on” and predicting India would apologise within months.

“In a month or two months, India will be at the negotiating table and they are going to say they are sorry. They will try to make a deal with Donald Trump,” Lutnick said in a television interview, whilst calling on India to support the US dollar and withdraw from BRICS.

Trump had also criticised US-India ties earlier this week as a “totally one-sided relationship,” though he claimed India had offered to cut tariffs “to zero” but suggested the concession might have come “too late.”

The India-US relationship is currently facing strains it has not seen in the past two decades, with the downturn playing out publicly largely because of Trump’s social media posts and remarks over Russian energy purchases.

Former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao characterised the exchange as significant but cautioned against reading too much into the development.

“Today’s posts are an opening overture, but true healing needs more than texts. Personalised diplomacy is always unpredictable, especially as practised by the American President; there is a cat-and-mouse tone about such moves,” Rao posted on X.

“We still need a return of more composed, mutual respect. Domestic sentiment in India is deeply bruised. The reactions have been loud and clear,” she added, noting that whilst the Trump-Modi relationship might heal, “reconciliation between these two friends” would require constant evaluation.

Rao warned the gesture represented only “a tentative gesture towards rapprochement” and “not a full thaw.”

In terms of specific steps, one of the key matters pending for both sides is resuming formal trade negotiations, which remain suspended even as a 50% tariff regime remains in effect on an estimated 55% of India’s $87 billion merchandise exports to the US.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal has maintained hope that both countries could conclude a trade deal by November despite the geopolitical tensions.

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