PM Modi, Trump give nod to defence deals, lay thrust on people-centric ties

New Delhi [India], Feb 25 (ANI): India and the US approved a major defence deal to equip Indian armed forces with advanced helicopters during two-day visit of President Donald Trump with the visiting leader reflecting New Delhi's concerns on cross-border terrorism while also stating that the bilateral trade ties should be "balanced and reciprocal."

The growing "people-centric" ties between the two countries were evident during the visit with Trump accorded a huge reception in Ahmedabad on Monday.

Apart from the public diplomacy, Modi and Trump discussed substantial issues during their restricted and extended talks on Tuesday including security and defence, energy, technology and trade, people-to-people contacts and regional issues.

 

PM Modi said after their talks that they have decided to take our relationship to the level of Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.

India raised its concern with the United States over the cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan and also talked about the issue of H-1 B Visa.

The issue of Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) did not come up during talks. On the issue of religious freedom, there was an appreciation on both sides that pluralism and diversity were common binding factors in both the countries.

It was the first stand-alone visit by a US President and came in an election year in the United States. Trump is the first US president to have come to India with wife and daughter.

On the question of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian side shared that there has been "a great deal" of positive developments in the state and two groups of envoys had visited the state including the US ambassador.

Over one lakh people present at the Motera stadium gave rapturous applause to Trump's speech at Motera stadium in which he lavishly praised India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Trump and Modi also discussed peace deal with Taliban, Blue Dot network and Quad - consultative mechanism involving the United States, Australia, Japan, and India.

The US President was accorded a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday morning and had delegation-level talks with Prime Minister. He later addressed a press conference and attended a banquet hosted in his honour by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Trump, his wife Melania and the high-level delegation had arrived in Ahmedabad on Monday and visited Sabarmati Ashram. After the rally at Motera- the largest cricket stadium in the world - the visiting leader visited Agra and saw Taj Mahal.

Trump left for the United States late in the evening.

The two sides signed Memorandum of Understanding on mental health and safety of medical products. A letter of cooperation was signed between Indian Oil Corporation Limited and ExxonMobil India LNG Limited on the Indian side and Chart Industries Inc from the US.

In his remarks after discussions with the Prime Minister, Trump said the visit has been "very special, unforgettable and extraordinary".

"Melania and I have been awed by the majesty of India and the exceptional kindness and generosity of the Indian people. We'll always remember the magnificent welcome the citizens of your home state showed us upon arrival. It was a profound expression of strength and of -- of real love. Really, it was love," he said.

Trump said the visit has been "very productive" for the two countries.

"Earlier today, we expanded our defence cooperation with agreements for India to purchase more than USD $3 billion of advanced American military equipment, including Apache and MH-60 Romeo helicopters -- the finest in the world. These deals will enhance our joint defence capabilities as our militaries continue to train and operate side-by-side," he said.

He said the two leaders affirmed their countries' commitment to protecting citizens "from radical Islamic terrorism."

"In this effort, the United States is also working productively with Pakistan to confront terrorists who operate on its soil," he said.

Trump said the two leaders were revitalizing the Quad Initiative and noted that there has been cooperation on counterterrorism, cyber-security, and maritime security to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The US President noted that the two countries have always been united by shared traditions of democracy and constitutions that protect freedom, individual rights, and the rule of law.

The two leaders discussed the importance of a secure 5G wireless network and the need for this emerging technology to be a tool for freedom, progress, prosperity -- not to do anything where it could be even conceived as a conduit for suppression and censorship.

The two countries also discussed Blue Dot Network, a major initiative to ensure countries around the world to have "access to private sector-led, sustainable, and trustworthy options for high-quality infrastructure development".

Trump said a major focus of his discussions was on forging "bilateral economic relationships that is fair and reciprocal".

"Our teams have made tremendous progress on a comprehensive trade agreement and I'm optimistic we can reach a deal that will be of great importance to both countries. Since I took office, US exports to India are up nearly 60 per cent and exports of high-quality American energy have grown by 500 per cent," he said.

Trump announced that the office of the US International Development Finance Corporation will be set up in Delhi to further strengthen economic ties.

India and US also agreed to create a counter-narcotics working group. "We will rid our societies of these bad drugs that are pouring in," he said.

Trump said the US-Indian partnership was now truly stronger than ever before. "This was a great visit with a tremendous friend and a tremendous leader, Prime Minister Modi. We are at a point where our relationship is so special with India. It has never been as good as it is right now," he said.

In his remarks after delegation-level talks, Modi said it was his fifth meeting between President Trump and me in the last eight months.

"President Trump's unprecedented and historical welcome in Motera yesterday will be remembered forever. Yesterday it became clear again that the relationship between America and India is not just between two governments, but people-driven, people-centric. This relationship is in the most important partnership of the 21st century," he said.

Modi said India's defence capacity has increased through collaboration on state-of-the-art defence equipment and platforms.

"Our defence manufacturers are becoming part of each other's supply chains. In the last few years, there has been an unprecedented increase in interoperability between our forces," he said.

The Prime Minister said there have been positive talks between Commerce Ministers.

"President Trump and I have agreed today that the understanding that has been reached between our Commerce Ministers, let's our teams make it legal. We have also agreed to start negotiations for a big trade deal. We hope that it will yield good results in mutual interest," Modi said.

Both Modi and Trump talked of the contribution of Indian Americans in fostering mutual ties.

The Prime Minister said he had requested Trump to take forward the discussion on the "totalisation agreement" on social security contribution of professionals.

"It will be in mutual interest," he said.

Briefing reporters about the outcome of talks, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said the issue of Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) did not come up during the talk.

He said with regard to religious freedom, there was an appreciation on both sides that pluralism and diversity were e common binding factors in both the countries.

He said the issue of cross-border terrorism came up in the context of Pakistan.

"With regard to Pakistan, the issues of cross border terrorism, the issue to ensuring financial accountability when dealing with terrorism, the issue of narcotics, the issue that concern Pakistan was certainly raised. Concerns were put out on the table," he said.

On the question of Jammu and Kashmir, he said the Indian side shared that there has been a great deal of positive developments in the state and two groups of envoys had visited the state including the US ambassador.

"The sense is the focus is now on development, how to attract more tourism to the state," he said and added that things were moving in the right direction.

In his presser, Trump again talked of "a large amount of tariffs" imposed by India on his country's products.

"We are being charged large amounts of tariffs. They cannot do that. India is probably the highest tariff nation. I think you have to pay the highest tariff when you deal with India. Harley-Davidson has to pay tremendous tariffs when they send motorcycles here and when India sends to us, there is virtually no tariff. That's unfair and we are working it out," he added.

He again mentioned the word mediation in the context of India and Pakistan but later clarified on it. "Anything I can do to mediate or help, I would do. They (Pakistan) are working on Kashmir. Kashmir has been a thorn in lots of people's sight for a long time. There are two sides to every story," Trump told reporters here.

"We talked a lot about it at length today. No question it is a problem. They are working on it. I said I will do whatever I can do to help because my relationship with both gentlemen (PM Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan) is so good," he said.

However, further in the conference, when asked about mediation, Trump said, "I didn't say anything about that (being a mediator). Kashmir obviously is a big problem between India and Pakistan, they are going to work out their problem. They have been doing it for a long time."

A proposal of mediation was last offered by President Trump in January during talks with Imran Khan in the US. He also said that Modi was capable of dealing with cross-border terrorism.

Trump also said he talked with Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding Taliban peace deal and noted that everybody is "happy" about it.

Answering a question about violence in Delhi, Trump said he did not discuss it with the Prime Minister during their talks as it is "up to India" to deal with it.