WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump on Thursday (Feb 13) offered to sell state-of-the-art fighter jets to India as he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to ramp up trade, rekindling a bond that defies the new US administration’s punitive approach to much of the world.
Modi, only the fourth world leader to visit the White House since Trump’s return, described the fellow nationalist as a friend and told him he was adopting a take on his “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Trump said that he found a “special bond” with Modi and India and, in an uncharacteristic if ironic show of humility, complimented Modi as being a “much tougher negotiator” than he is.
Successive US administrations have seen India as a key partner with like-minded interests in the face of a rising China, and Trump announced that the new administration was ready to sell one of the top US military prizes – F-35s.
“Starting this year, we’ll be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars,” Trump told a joint news conference with Modi.
“We’re also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters,” Trump said.
Trump, who has previously complained about Indian tariffs, agreed with Modi that the two countries would work together on a trade deal.
“In order to ensure India’s energy security, we will focus on trade in oil and gas,” Modi said, expecting that a “mutually beneficial trade agreement” would come “very soon”.
Joining Trump’s meeting with Modi was SpaceX and Tesla tycoon Elon Musk, who has launched an aggressive effort as Trump’s right-hand man to overhaul the US bureaucracy.
Musk also held a one-on-one meeting with Modi earlier on Thursday, in an encounter that drew questions over whether the world’s richest man was meeting the Indian premier in an official or a business capacity.
The Indian premier posted pictures of himself shaking hands with the beaming Musk, with several children on Musk’s side of the room, and Indian officials on the other.
Modi said later that he has known Musk since before he became prime minister.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/india-us-trump-modi-jets-trade-deal-bromance-4935471
