Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit the United States next month for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and plans are afoot to schedule a meeting with President Donald Trump to iron out issues on trade amid a downturn in ties.
Apart from Trump, PM Modi will also likely hold high-level meetings with foreign leaders, including Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, sources said. The UNGA summit will be held in New York City in September. Global leaders will start arriving during the week starting September 23.
If the meeting materialises, it will be the second meeting of the two leaders in seven months after PM Modi visited the White House in February this year.
During Trump's first term, he and PM Modi formed a personal bond. However, that camaraderie has been rocked by Trump's compulsive bluster on tariffs in his second term despite the President calling Modi a "friend" several times.
However, the mouth-watering prospect of a Modi-Trump meeting hinges on several factors in the coming weeks.
First is making headway in the India-US bilateral trade deal, which has been struck over India's reluctance in opening up the agriculture and dairy sectors to the US.
Amid the trade deal stalemate, Trump compounded matters by imposing a 25% tariff on India and an additional 25% levy due to the continued purchase of Russian oil, bringing the total duty to 50%.
While half of Trump's 50% tariffs on Indian products came into force on August 7, the remaining are set to take effect on August 27. Before that deadline, India and the US are engaged in hectic negotiations to strike a trade deal.
Another key issue that has become a flashpoint between the US and India is New Delhi's purchase of Russian oil - a revenue source the White House says is sustaining Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Trump has been berating India over its Russian oil purchases and pressuring New Delhi into cutting down on imports in the hope that threatening a key trade partner would force Moscow's hand into ending the Ukraine war.
India has, however, vehemently countered the criticism by accusing the US of hypocrisy and pointing out that American companies continue to buy uranium, chemicals and fertilizers from Russia.
On this front, India will closely follow the meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 to discuss a resolution to end the conflict, which has dragged on for over three years.
