President Donald Trump held a phone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday – their first since Trump’s second inauguration – in which they discussed Modi visiting America and working towards “global peace.”
Modi was the first to announce the call in a social media message in which he described Trump as a “dear friend.”
“We are committed to a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership. We will work together for the welfare of our people and towards global peace, prosperity, and security,” Modi wrote.
The White House published a more detailed readout later on Monday in which it described the call as “productive” and featuring discussions on issues around the world, including the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific, and “Europe,” which likely meant conversation about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The two leaders discussed expanding and deepening cooperation. They also discussed a range of regional issues, including security in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe,” the White House narrated. “The President emphasized the importance of India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship.”
The readout added that Modi and Trump “discussed plans for Prime Minister Modi to visit the White House, underscoring the strength of the friendship and strategic ties between our nations.”
Modi runs a Hindu nationalist government with a recent history of conflict with China, making it a valued partner for the United States, but a long record of persecution of Christians and disregard for ongoing Hindu mob violence against them. During Trump’s first term, he and Modi cooperated closely on economic issues and on containing the threat of communist China, but Trump also prioritized religious persecution as a State Department-level issue, which Modi largely refused to address. During former President Joe Biden’s tenure, Modi flatly denied the existence of any religious persecution in his country while standing besides Biden at the White House.
Neither Modi nor Trump mentioned the issue in revealing their phone call on Monday, instead focusing on national security issues. Also absent from public descriptions of the call was the topic of immigration, which is of high importance for the Indian government. America is home to nearly 5 million Indian-Americans, the majority of them immigrants. India is one of the countries to most benefit from the H-1B visa program, which allows employers to import workers in “specialty occupations,”
“A specialty occupation is one that requires the application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent,” according to the Department of Labor.
Trump made prioritizing American over foreign workers a priority of his presidential campaign and has spent much of his energy during his first week in office overseeing the deportation of illegal immigrants. In conversations with Indian officials, New Delhi reportedly agreed to repatriate 18,000 Indian illegal immigrants, according to a Bloomberg news report last week.
“As part of India-US cooperation on migration and mobility, both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration,” Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told Bloomberg. “This is being done to create more avenues for legal migration from India to the US.”
Modi and Trump generally had a very friendly relationship during Trump’s first term. As one of his final acts in office in 2020, Trump awarded Modi the Legion of Merit, one of the U.S. military’s top honors, for his contributions to improving U.S.-Indian relations.
Modi was among the first to condemn the assassination attempt against Trump in July and among the first to speak to Trump after his election victory in November.
“Heartiest congratulations my friend [Trump] on your historic election victory,” Modi wrote in a congratulatory social media message at the time. “As you build on the successes of your previous term, I look forward to renewing our collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership.”
Trump reportedly invited Modi to his inauguration. Modi sent in his stead External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, the highest-ranking Indian official to ever attend an American inauguration. Trump’s 2025 inauguration was the first in American history to feature high-ranking foreign officials, including multiple heads of state.
Jaishankar held a meeting the day after the inauguration with his American equivalent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in which they discussed increasing American-Indian cooperation.
“They discussed a wide range of topics, including regional issues and opportunities to further deepen the U.S.-India relationship,” the State Department detailed, “in particular on critical and emerging technologies, defense cooperation, energy, and on advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”
“Secretary Rubio also emphasized the Trump Administration’s desire to work with India to advance economic ties and address concerns related to irregular migration,” it added.
Jaishankar told reporters following the meeting that his government supported Trump’s efforts on immigration.
“We want Indian talent and Indian skills to have the maximum opportunity at the global level,” he said, according to India’s NDTV. “At the same time, we are also very firmly opposed to illegal mobility and illegal migration.”
“So, with every country, and the US is no exception, we have always taken the view that if any of our citizens are here illegally, and if we are sure that they are our citizens, we have always been open to their legitimate return to India,” he concluded.
Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.
Read the full article here
