New Delhi, Sept 06: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India “fully reciprocates” US President Donald Trump’s positive assessment of bilateral ties, calling the partnership “very positive and forward-looking.”
In a post on X, Modi wrote: “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.”
His remarks came shortly after Trump described India-US relations as “special” despite current strains over tariffs and New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil.
PTI reported that Trump, while speaking in the Oval Office, said, “I’ll always be friends with (Narendra) Modi… He’s a great prime minister. He’s great. But I just don’t like what he’s doing at this particular moment. But India and the United States have a special relationship. There’s nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion.”
Trump also voiced “very big disappointment” over India’s imports of Russian crude. According to PTI, he said, “I’ve been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil from Russia, and I let them know that. We put a very big tariff on India, 50 per cent tariff, very high tariff.”
The US president’s comments came days after he suggested in a Truth Social post that “India and Russia” were drifting towards China, accompanied by an old photograph of Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping from a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin.
On trade, Trump maintained that negotiations with India and other countries were “going great” but reiterated his unhappiness with New Delhi’s tariff regime.
Meanwhile, senior officials in his administration sharpened their criticism. Peter Navarro, Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing, claimed on X that India’s tariffs “cost US jobs” and accused New Delhi of feeding “Russia’s war machine” through oil purchases that India rejected.
