President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has sent ripples across the globe, but India remains largely optimistic about his second term. Just over a week into Trump’s presidency, India is signaling its readiness to adapt to his transactional style of diplomacy.
Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a “productive call” on Monday, focused on “expanding and deepening cooperation.”
According to a White House readout, the leaders discussed geopolitical issues and bilateral trade. Trump emphasized the importance of India increasing its purchases of American-made security equipment to help balance the trade relationship between the two countries. The call is believed to be among the first Trump has taken from foreign leaders since his return to office.
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“Expectations are high for U.S.-India relations with Trump having taken office. He and Modi have a strong chemistry, given their similar worldviews and governance styles,” Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, told Fox News Digital.
Modi has enjoyed a strong rapport and personal bond with Trump. “We have a very good relationship with India,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One after his call with Modi.
In 2020, Modi threw a massive rally for Trump in his home state of Gujarat, where both leaders spoke admiringly of each other in front of a crowd exceeding 110,000 people. The previous year, Trump likened Modi to Elvis Presley for his ability to draw large crowds at a joint rally in Texas. However, Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown is raising some concerns for Indians.
According to the Pew Research Center, India is one of the top sources of illegal immigration to the U.S. An estimated 725,000 Indians were residing in the U.S. illegally as of 2022. Furthermore, Customs and Border Patrol encountered nearly 90,500 Indian citizens in fiscal year 2024 alone. The immigration unease also comes as H-1B visas, one of the most common legal pathways of entry for Indians, have been a hotly contested topic by Trump’s supporters. On Monday, however, Trump dismissed immigration concerns, expressing confidence India will “do what is right.”
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Trade is another possible point of contention that could affect U.S.-India relations.
Just a day after Trump held his call with Modi, he denounced India, China and Brazil as “tremendous tariff maker(s).” Speaking to House Republicans in Florida, Trump emphasized that the nations harm the U.S. with high tariffs. He highlighted plans to target the countries, asserting that “we’re not going to let that happen any longer because we’re going to put America first.”
Trump threatened high tariffs on imported goods throughout his presidential campaign and slammed India as a “very big abuser.” During his first term, Trump dubbed India the “tariff king” amid trade disagreements. In 2019, he revoked India’s special trade privileges. In retaliation, India slapped tariffs on more than two dozen U.S. goods.
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Modi is casting India as a rising global player and seeks to enhance trade ties with the U.S., especially in the face of Trump’s international tariff threats. Trump has proposed a “universal” tax of 10% or 20% on all international imports, and India would be no exception. India, the world’s fifth-largest economy, aims to boost bilateral trade with the U.S. while reducing dependence on China. The two countries are India’s top trading partners.
Recent legal allegations have also tested the burgeoning relationship between India and the U.S. Last year, American prosecutors charged Indian government agents with what they said was a plot to assassinate an American citizen on U.S. soil. Months later, the Justice Department indicted Indian tycoon Gautam Adani on fraud and bribery charges. Despite these challenges, the bilateral relationship has endured.
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“There will be challenges to navigate, for sure, both those inherited from the Biden administration — like the Justice Department investigation of an alleged Indian government involvement in a murder-for-hire plot in New York, and new ones like trade,” Kugelman explains. “But we can see from New Delhi’s recent signaling that it’s prepared to act preemptively to lower the risk of tensions.”
In the days since Trump took office, India has said it would explore lowering tariffs, taking back some of the illegal Indian migrants and importing more U.S. oil to reduce imports from Russia.
As India works to bolster defense, technology and trade ties with the U.S., the nation is expressing confidence that it is better positioned than others to weather Trump’s “America First” administration. “I know today a lot of countries are nervous about the U.S., let’s be honest about that. We are not one of them,” Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar said days after the November election.
Washington views India, the world’s largest democracy, as a counterbalance to China’s growing assertiveness. Additionally, Trump is largely unconcerned with Modi’s policies, which have been deemed problematic by many global leaders. The two align in style and rhetoric, particularly when it comes to national pride.
Kugelman told Fox News Digital, “The U.S. and India will continue to share a number of strong policy and strategic convergences, chief among them countering China.”
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Trump’s administration also features prominent Indian-Americans. His pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, faces a high-stakes Senate confirmation hearing this week. If confirmed, he will be the FBI’s first Indian American leader, as well as its youngest director. Trump has also picked Dr. Jay Bhattacharya for director, National Institutes of Health, and Harmeet K. Dhillon as assistant attorney general for Civil Rights. Others, like former 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and senior policy adviser for AI, Sriram Krishnan, already hold significant advisory roles in the administration. While they brought hope to many Indian immigrants, Krishnan, a first-generation Indian, has become a MAGA lightning rod. Additionally, while not a member of the cabinet, Vice President JD Vance’s wife, Usha, is the first woman of Indian origin to be second lady.
India remains optimistic about strengthening its relationship with the U.S. under Trump’s leadership, viewing it as an opportunity to further its strategic interests on the global stage. Modi is expected to meet with Trump as soon as next month. Meanwhile, Trump is expected to visit India later this year to attend a Quad Leaders’ Summit hosted by New Delhi.
“The fact that India, with its nationalist government and strong confidence as a rising power, would so quickly and publicly acknowledge a willingness to consider making concessions to the U.S. says a lot about just how much it wants its partnership with Washington to work in the second Trump administration,” Kugelman said.
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