External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives great importance to India’s partnership with the United States and has always shared a strong personal rapport with US President Donald Trump.
“PM Modi attaches enormous importance to our partnership with the US. Where President Trump is concerned, he (PM 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. But that's really what I would say,” Jaishankar told news agency ANI when asked about Trump’s latest remarks on India.
His comments came shortly after PM Modi responded to Trump’s positive statements on bilateral ties, despite recent friction between Washington and New Delhi over US-imposed tariffs and India’s purchase of Russian oil. “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,” the Prime Minister said on X.
The Prime Minister’s remarks followed Trump’s assertion that he would “always be friends” with Modi, a notable climbdown just a day after claiming the US had “lost India to the deepest, darkest China.”
Trump, speaking in Washington on Friday, acknowledged differences but reaffirmed his personal relationship with Modi. “I'll always be friends with (Narendra) Modi, he's a great prime minister. He's great. I'll always be friends, but I just don't like what he's doing at this particular moment,” he said in the Oval Office.
“But India and the United States have a special relationship. There's nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion,” the US President added.
The exchange comes amid ongoing tensions between the two countries, with Trump recently imposing a 50 per cent tariff on India, citing New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil.
Source: India Today