Blitz Bureau
Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to New Delhi on February 14 after successfully concluding his twonation visit to the United States and France. He met with President Donald Trump at the White House and discussed strategic India-US ties in various key areas.
“He is a great friend of mine. For a long time we’ve had a wonderful relationship,” Trump said as he greeted PM Modi in the Oval Office.
At a joint briefing after about fourhour long discussions, the two leaders addressed several key topics, including tariffs, the extradition of the 26/11 Mumbai attack accused TahawwurRana, illegal immigration and the Russia-Ukraine war.
According to AIR News, the two leaders jointly launched the US-India COMPACT for the 21st century. The COMPACT stands for Catalysing Opportunities in Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce, and Technology. In the area of trade and investment, the leaders launched Mission 500, aiming to more than double the total two-way trade to 500 billion dollars by 2030.
Prime Minister Modi and President Trump also announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial multi-sector bilateral trade agreement by the fall of 2025 toward advancing this process.
The leaders announced plans to finalise a new 10-year framework for the US-India major defence partnership in the 21st century. This is a framework that will run from 2025 to 2035 and is expected to be finalised later this year.
