Modi & Trump Will Talk About More Than Just Trade & Military Topics During Their Summit
Andrew Korybko
Andrew Korybko's Newsletter
The convergence of their shared worldviews and the close friendship between their leaders increases the chances that India can convince the US to lend it support on the two other very sensitive issues of Russia and Khalistan.
Indian Prime Minister Modi is expected to travel to the US next week from 12-14 February, during which time their talks on trade and military topics will take precedence over all else. Regarding the first, Trump previously criticized Modi for his country’s use of tariffs in spite of them being close friends, yet India just slashed its peak tariffs and there’s now talk of them starting negotiations on a free trade pact. As for the second, they have a shared interest in militarily containing China, which is Trump’s foreign policy priority.
The second Trump Administration is also considered to be Indophilic so this makes it even more likely that they’ll agree to closer military cooperation, perhaps also a big-ticket arms sale or at least the start of talks on such, and peacefully smoothing over whatever rough edges they have on trade. The US considers India to be as a partial economic-military counterweight to China, with the key word being partial since it might never be able to play this role completely, but what it does fulfill is still important.