Former President Donald Trump has said he will meet “fantastic man” Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week when he visits the US.
"He happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he's fantastic. I mean, fantastic, man,” Trump said on Tuesday at a town hall meeting in Flint, Michigan.
PM Modi will be in the US from Saturday to Monday, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
The Ministry’s programme listed only PM Modi’s participation in the Quad Summit in Delaware on Saturday, his speech to the Indian diaspora on Long Island on Sunday, and his address to the United Nations Summit of the Future on Monday.
It did not mention meeting with Trump but said, “On the sidelines of the Summit, the Prime Minister would be holding bilateral meetings with several world leaders and discuss issues of mutual interest.”
Trump's campaign calendar shows him in North Carolina on Saturday and in Pennsylvania on Monday evening, with nothing pencilled in for Sunday.
The former president mentioned the meeting with PM Modi while talking about trade imbalances and how he would hike duties on imports from India through a Trump Reciprocal Tax Act.
He called India “a very big abuser” of the tariffs system because of the high duties it imposes on some imports from the US and said New Delhi “is very tough” in negotiations.
“If anybody charges us 10 cents, if they charge us $2, if they charge us 100 per cent 250, we charge them the same,” he said.
Listing India among them, he said that countries the US was trading with are “the sharpest people. They're not a little bit backward … they're at the top of their game, and they use it against us”.
He added, “China is the toughest of all, but we were taking care of China with the tariffs, so we're going to do a reciprocal trade.”
While in office Trump tangled with India over tariffs, putting a spotlight on the duties on Harley-Davidson motorcycles and whiskey.
He hiked duties on steel and aluminium imports and eliminated the Generalised Scheme of Preferences that provided for concessional tariffs for some Indian exports and New Delhi retaliated by raising duties mostly on agricultural exports like apples and almonds.
Even though they had differences on trade, PM Modi and Trump developed strong personal ties.
With elections about five weeks away and Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in almost a tie, PM Modi has a tightrope walk ahead -- not appearing to favour either party but also having to keep his lines of communication open to both.
Before the 2020 election that Trump lost, PM Modi appeared alongside him at a community event billed as “Howdy Modi”, in Houston in 2019 and, in a play of his own election slogan, cheered him, “Abki baar, Trump sarkar” (This time, Trump’s government”).
That and a spectacle for Trump with over 1,00,000 people in Ahmedabad in 2020 became an embarrassment when Biden defeated him.
But Biden and PM Modi brushed it aside and further developed ties between their nations.
Sushanta demanded Centre to start direct flight service along Agartala-Mumbai route
The state transport minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Monday met the Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu in Delhi and discussed a series of issues related to the development of air services from Agartala MBB Airport.
CM Dr Manik Saha discuses development railway services and infrastructure in Tripura
Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Monday met the General Manager (Construction) of North East Frontier Railway here in his chamber at the secretariat and discussed a series of issues related to the further development of railway infrastructure in the state and ease passenger movement.
State to get Rs 150 Crore for Tourism, Sushanta Meets Union Minister Shekhawat
The Central Government has sanctioned an additional ₹150 crore for the enhancement of Tripura's tourism sector, Tripura Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury announced on Monday.
CM to inaugurate 34 projects of Rs 250 Crore tomorrow
Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Manik Saha will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of various projects worth Rs 250 crore, comprising 34 projects, in Unakoti district tomorrow.
JP Nadda, BL Santosh arriving in state on March 9: CM Manik Saha
Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Manik Saha today announced that BJP All India National President JP Nadda and National General Secretary (Org) B.L. Santosh will be arriving on March 9 to attend the two-year celebration of the present state government at Swami Vivekananda Maidan.
Two Bihar women held with cannabis at Agartala Railway Station
Acting on a tip-off, the Government Railway Police recovered 21 kg 65 grams of dried cannabis from two women at Agartala railway station. The estimated market value of the seized contraband is said to be over three lakh rupees.
UK PM announces new 1.6-billion-pound deal for Ukraine to buy missiles
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that Britain will allow Ukraine to use 1.6 billion pounds ($2 billion) of British export finance to purchase more than 5,000 air defence missiles.
'PM Modi working for welfare of all communities without discrimination', says Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah Committee chief
Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Dargah Committee Chairman Syed Afsar Ali Nizami on Sunday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for attending the Sufi music festival 'Jahan-e-Khusro' and said that he gave the message of brotherhood and works for the welfare of all communities and religion without any discrimination.