Trump Says He Will Meet With India’s Modi Next Week
(Bloomberg) -- Former President Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to meet with him next week — the latest visit from a foreign leader or official as nations grapple with the possibility of the Republican returning to power after November’s election.
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“He happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he’s fantastic,” the Republican presidential nominee said Tuesday during a town hall in Flint, Michigan, as he revealed the visit during a winding answer that touched on free trade and protecting US jobs.
The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking details about the meeting. India’s Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment when contacted Wednesday for further information.
Modi will be in the US this weekend, where he is slated to attend the Quad Leaders Summit in Wilmington, Delaware that is being hosted by President Joe Biden. On Sept. 23, Modi is expected to address the “Summit of the Future” at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Trump has met with other world leaders this year, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who visited the former president at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in March and with Polish President Andrzej Duda at the Trump Tower in New York.
As president, Trump traveled to India in 2020, a trip which saw Modi roll out the red carpet to court the Republican, who is fond of large crowd sizes, including with an event at a cricket stadium where he was greeted by more than 100,000 people.
Under Biden, the US has pledged to work with India on technology such as artificial intelligence and committed to the co-production of sensitive defense technologies. Biden has sought to strengthen ties with Asian nations to better counter China’s growing military and economic influence in the Asia-Pacific region. The president also hosted Modi for a state dinner in 2023.
But US-India ties under Biden have also been frustrated in part by New Delhi’s reluctance to broker an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine. India is reliant on Russia for military weapons and cheap oil, and has refrained from condemning Vladimir Putin for his invasion.
Modi visited Kyiv in August for the first time since the war began and has advocated for diplomacy and dialog to end the conflict.
Earlier: Ukraine Wants India to Play More Active Role to End Russia’s War
US-India ties have also been tested by allegations that New Delhi was involved in the attempted assassination of a Sikh activist, a vocal Modi critic, in New York last year. India’s government has denied the allegations.
--With assistance from Stephanie Lai and Sudhi Ranjan Sen.
(Updates with Indian government’s decline to respond in third paragraph.)
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