PM Modi & President Trump discuss ‘mutually beneficial’ ties (Lead)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, reaffirming their commitment to a ‘mutually beneficial and trusted partnership.’

“Delighted to speak with my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump @POTUS,” PM Modi wrote on X.

The Prime Minister congratulated President Trump on his historic second term and expressed that both leaders are committed to working together for the welfare of their people and for global peace, prosperity, and security.

There was no official statement from the White House at the time, but a readout of the conversation was expected to be released soon.

This was the second phone call between the two leaders following Trump’s re-election; the first took place just after Trump’s victory in November.

The leaders have shared a close personal relationship dating back to Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021. Notably, Trump addressed the “Howdy Modi” rally in Houston in 2019, and later visited India in February 2020 for the “Namaste Trump” event in Modi’s home state of Gujarat.

The two leaders are expected to meet in person later this year, with reports suggesting that officials from both countries are working on arranging a meeting in February. However, no formal announcements have been made yet.

The leaders will likely meet in India when President Trump travels there for the Quad summit, with India scheduled to host the summit this year.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar represented PM Modi at Trump’s inauguration last week and participated in various related events, including a prayer service attended by the Trump family, cabinet members, and tech leaders such as Elon Musk of Tesla, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Sundar Pichai of Google.

Jaishankar also became the first foreign guest for Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s bilateral meeting at the State Department, following a meeting of the Quad foreign ministers with officials from Australia and Japan.