Shailesh Kumar, National Defence
New Delhi, 14 February 2025
Here is full text of Prime Minister Modi and President Donald Trump’s joint Press Conference:
President Trump extends warm greetings and welcome to PM Modi and thanked for the hospitality to him and the first lady Melania when they visited India 5 years back. He recollected they opened the cricket stadium with 129000 seats, largest in the world.
President Trump said there is special unity bond between United States and India— the world’s oldest democracy and world’s largest democracy and largest country in terms of numbers of people.
Prime Minister Modi and Trump announced a framework to strengthen those ties even further economically.
Here is the full text of the joint press conference between the president of the united states, Donald Trump and the prime minister of the republic of India, Narendra Modi.
President Trump: Thank you very much. Thank you very much, please. It’s a great honor. I’m thrilled to welcome the prime minister of india, my friend narendra modi, back to the white house. We spent a lot of time here and back in india. He’s a very special man.
Prime minister, it’s a pleasure to extend to you the same hospitality you showed to melania and myself when we traveled your beautiful country five years ago . We open aid cricket stadium, i think the largest stadium in the world. It was an incredible period of time.
There is truly a special bond between the united states and india and the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy, and i believe the world’s largest country in terms of the numbers of people, and today the prime minister and i are announcing a framework to strengthen those ties even further economically and the u. s. -india kpabg for the 21st century is an historic initiative that will deepen every aspect of our partnership and friendship.
Starting this year we’ll be increasing military sales to india by many billions of dollars. We’re also paving the way to ultimately provide india with the f-35 stealth fighters. In 2017 my administration revived and reinvigorated the quad security partnership. In our meeting today the prime minister and i reaffirmed that strong cooperation among the united states, india, australia and japan and it’s crucial really to maintain peace and prosperity, tranquility even in the indo-pacific.
In addition the united states and india will be working together like never before to confront the threat of radical islamic terrorism. A threat all over the world actually. Today i’m pleased to announce my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and one of the evil people of the world and having to do with the horrific 2008 mumbai terrorist attack to face justice in india. So he’s going to be going back to india to face justice .
We’ll bring greater reciprocity our tradings relationship. Prime minister modi recently announced the reductions to india’s unfair, very strong tariffs that limit u. s. Access into the india market. It’s a big problem, i must say. India imposes a 30 to 40 to 60 and even 70% tariff on so many of the goods, in some cases far more than that. A 70% tariff on u. s. Cars going into india which makes it pretty much impossible to sell those cars. Today the u. s. Trade deficit with india is almost $100 billion.
Prime minister modi and i have agreed that we’ll begin negotiations to address the long-running disparities that should have been taken care of over the last four years but they didn’t do that in the u. s. -india trading relationship with the goal of signing an agreement and we want, really we want a certain level playing field which we really think we’re entitled to and he does also in fairness.
We’re going to work on that very hard. We can make up the difference with the deficit, with the sale of oil and gas, lng, of which we have more than anybody in the world. The prime minister and i reached an agreement on energy which will restore the united states of a leading supplier of oil and gas to india.
It will be hopefully their number one supplier in the ground breaking development for u. s. Nuclear industry. India is reforming its laws to welcome u. s. -india technology which is the highest level in the indian market. This will bring safe, affordable electricity to millions of indians and millions of dollars.
Under the framework we are announcing today the u. s. And india are also joining forces to ensure that artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies are developed by the two of the most — two of the most advanced nations intellectually and otherwise technologically. We have an incredible relationship there and this is where it seems to be heading and artificial intelligence, complex, a very complex subject but it seems to be where people want to be and they want to go and we’re leading right now by a lot. But other people will try to catch us. I don’t know if they are going to be able to. We’re going to make it available. We’re going to make tremendous amounts of electricity available. We’re going to let the people that are buying the electricity make their own electric plants, electric generation plants and we’ve never done this in our country but we’re going to get it done quickly.
Lee’s going to get the approvals in very rapid form and we’re calling it a national emergency and that’s exactly what it is, so we’re going to remain at the top of the ai or artificial intelligence i think for a long time to come and working very closely with india and other countries on that but right now we’re the leader by quite a bit.
Finally we agreed to work together to help build one of the greatest trade routes in all of history. It will run from india to israel to italy and onward to the united states connecting our partners by ports, railways and under sea cables, many, many under sea cables. It’s a big development. It’s a lot of money going to be spent and we’ve already spent some but we’re going to be spending a lot more in order to stay advanced and stay the leader. I’m pleased to report that with today’s announcements the friendship between the united states and india is the strongest i believe it’s ever been.
I think our relationship is the best it’s ever been between two leaders of the two countries and it’s an honor to say that. I’d like to now invite the prime minister to say a few words and then we’ll take some questions and we appreciate you all being here. Thank you very much.
Prime Minister Modi: Your excellency , president trump, friends from the media, i would like to first of all express my heart felt gratitude to my dear friend, president trump, for the grand welcome and hospitality afforded to me. President trump’s leadership has been instrumental in nurturing india-u. s. Ties and making them vibrant .
I could feel today the same enthusiasm, the same enthusiasm, the same energy, the same commitment that we had worked with during our first — our discussions today highlight ed our pride in our accomplishments during his first term, the deep mutual trust that we share and also the resolve to attain new goals. We also agreed that the partnership and cooperation between india and the u. s. Can shape a better world trends.
The people of america are aware of president trump’s motto make america great again or maga. People of america are well aware of it, the people of india too are focusing on both heritage and development as they move forward at a fast pace and with a firm resolve to ensure a developed india by 2047. If i were to say this, borrowing an expression from america, our vision for a developed india is to make india great again or miga. When america and india work together, that is, when it’s maga plus miga, it becomes mega, a mega partnership for prosperity and it is this mega spirit that gives new scale and scope to our objectives .
Friends, today we have also set ourselves the target of more than doubling our bilateral trade to attain $500 billion by 2030. Our teams will work on concluding very soon a mutually beneficial trade agreement in order to ensure india’s energy security, we will focus on trade in oil and gas. Investment in energy structure will also increase. In the area of nuclear energy, we also discussed increasing cooperation on small, modular react ors. Friends, america plays an important role in india’s defense prepared ness.
As strategic and trusted partners, we are moving forward actively towards joint development, joint production and transfer of technology . In the times to come as well, new technologies and equipment will enhance our capacities . We have decided to launch the industry alliance and a defense cooperation framework for the next decade will be prepared . Prepare and maintenance will also be its key components.
Friends, the 21st century is a technology-driven century. Close cooperation in the area of technology between countries that believes in democratic values can give new direction, strength and opportunities to the entire humanity. India and the u. s. Will jointly look in areas of artificial intelligence, semi conductors, bio technology and several other technologies.
Today we also agreed on trust which stands for transforming relationships utilizing strategic technology. Under this our focus will be on establishing strong supply trades for critical minerals, advanced materials and pharmaceuticals. We have also decided to launch a recovery and processing initiative for strategic minerals like lithium and rare earth. We have had close cooperation with the u. s. In the area of space .
The satellite developed with mutual cooperation between israel and nasa will soon be flying into space on an india launch vehicle. Friends, partnership between india and the u. s. Strengthens democracy and strengthens democratic values and systems. We will work together to enhance peace, stability and prosperity in the indo-pacific. The court will play a special role in this. During the court summit scheduled to be held in india this year, we will expand cooperations in new areas with our partner countries.
Under the i2 u2, we will work together for the development of economic corridors and in the area of connectivity. India and will u. s. Stand strongly together in the fight against terrorism. We agree that in order to eliminate cross-border terrorism, we need concrete actions, and i’m very grateful to president trump that he in 2008 somebody who carried out genocide in india, that criminal is now going to be handed over to india and i’m grateful to president trump for this and appropriate actions will be taken in the courts in india.
Friends, the indian community living in the u. s. Is an important link in our relations. In order to further deepen our people to people ties, india will soon open new consulates in los angeles and boston. These will be new consulates. We have invited american universities and in the case some institutes to hope their offshore campuses in india. President trump, i am grateful to you for your friendship and strong commitment towards india .
Your visit in 2020 and hope that president trump will come and visit them again. On behalf of 1. 4 billion indians, i invite you to visit india. Thank you, thank you very much. [ applause ] — president trump: thank you very much . Okay. Thank you very much. That was excellent. We’ll do a few questions, please. Please, go ahead. Please, go ahead. Yeah. Yeah. Blue shirt.
Reporter: thank you, mr. President. People naturally welcome you to expedite — india back home. In that context i’d like to ask you a question about in the last few years we’ve seen several groups in the u. s. Calling about the activities of india. Do you think that continue here in the u. s. As well.
President Trump: you’re going to have to go louder.
Reporter: mr. President, people will be welcoming your decision to expedite — president trump: i can’t understand a word he’s saying is. — the interpreter: may i, sir? May i? — president trump: go ahead, back there. Thank you very much.
Reporter: you both spoke about combating isis. You both sound very excited about this partnership upcoming and i was curious, how much more confident are you with president trump leading this country that there will be peace through strength and you will have a successful partnership with the united states versus with biden’s incompetence and weakness over the last four years ? [ laughter ] —
President Trump: that’s your question but i’ll answer it. I agree with you. Gross incompetence. We’re going to have a fantastic relationship and it has been — the whole world’s been set back over the last four years by the weakness of the united states, the weak leadership of the united states. I think we’ve taken care of it in just three weeks. It seems to me even some of the media that we wouldn’t prefer has been writing that this is a much different country right now, that the world has a light over it, not only our country but the whole world. The prime minister told me that before too, even over india. The world has a light, they need the united states to be strong and powerful but good. And i think that’s happened. I think that’s happened in a very short period of time. I will tell you, we’re going to have a fantastic relationship and it will make both countries much stronger. Yes, go ahead, please .
Reporter: from india today, sir. I’ll just take my colleague’s question forward because you couldn’t understand — president trump: okay, fine.
Reporter: the question is about the fact that you’ve decided to extradite the Tahabbur rana, thank you so much sindia’s been waiting to have him back to india to bring him to justice but there are many other elements in the united states of america particularly pal palestini separatists. There have been allegations that have been leveled against indian agencies by the biden administration, are going to be relooked at as tulsi gabbard –
President Trump: i don’t think india had a very good relationship with the biden administration. Biden, they wouldn’t sell them oil and gas, which is rather hard to believe. It’s a good thing to do. And a lot of things happened that weren’t very appropriate i thought between india and the administration, the biden administration. But as you said we’re giving a very violent man it seems to me. I don’t know that he’s been convicted yet or will be but let’s assume he’s a pretty violent person. We’re giving him back to india immediately and there are more to follow because we have quite a few requests. We work with india on crime and we want to make it good for india and it’s very important so that kind of a relationship is very important to us. Okay? Go ahead, please . Go ahead.
Reporter: thank you. Mr. President, you’ve repeatedly called india a big abuser of trade and said it is really difficult to do business in india because of tariffs. I am hoping you can speak about what kind of reciprocal tariffs india can expect. Are you willing to make any concessions and how can india head-off these tariffs stph-f i also have one for the prime minister.
President Trump: well, india’s been to us just about the highest tariffed nation anywhere in the world. They’ve been very strong on tariffs. I don’t blame them necessarily but it’s a different way of doing business. It’s very hard to sell into india because they have trade barriers, very strong tariffs. Right now we’re a reciprocal nation. We are going to, if it’s india or somebody else with low tariffs, we’ll have whatever india charges, we’re charging them. Whatever another country charges, we’re charging them. It’s called reciprocal which i think is a very fair way.
I was going do that in my other term. We had the greatest economy ever in the world. There’s never been an economy like we had and then we got hit with covid, we had to focus on that, and i wasn’t really in the mood to be putting it on italy and spain and san francisco — france and india. We had a strongest economy anywhere in the world during that fairly long period of time during my first term as you know. We didn’t do the tariffs. We would have done the reciprocal tariffs.
We decided and i decided i think on a human basis, on a humane basis, not to do them because there was such suffering all over the world. The last thing we needed to talk about was trade problems but now we do. We see a tremendous future for our country but we felt that now it’s finally time after 45 or 50 years of abuse that we will do and this is is in india. This is among a lot of nations the european union is very difficult for us, very, very difficult.
They attacks our companies at levels nobody’s ever seen before. They take advantage of a lot of things so we’re not happy about that. China of course is terrible. We’ve never taken in ten cents until i was president. We’ve taken in hundreds of billions of dollars from china since i was president and first term and now. We have do that just as a mechanism of fairness. That’s what i’ve done so we are being reciprocal with india.
Whatever india charges, we charge them. Frankly, it no longer matters that much to us what we charge. I had discussions with india in the first term about the fact that their tariffs were very high and i was unable to get a concession. We’re just going to do it the easy way and say whatever you charge we charge and i think that’s fair for the people of the united states and i think it’s actually fair for india . Go ahead, please .
Reporter: for the prime minister — president trump: ask to the prime minister, please.
Reporter: thank you, mr. President. Prime minister, the u. s. Is giving a lot of push to curb illegal immigration and india has been cooperating on this issue. How does india see this issue in the larger context? Thank you.
Prime Minister Modi: i don’t think this is a question about india globally . We are of the opinion that anybody who enters another country illegally , they have absolutely no right to be in that country. As far as india and the u. s. Is concerned, we have always been of the same opinion and that is that any verified indian who is in the u. s. Illegal ly, we are fully prepared to take them back to india. However, it doesn’t stop there .
These are children of very ordinary families and they are lured by big dreams and big promises. A lot of them are brought in without them knowing about why they are going to a country and in fact they are connected with a human trafficking system and we have to make sure that we fight against this system as far as the u. s.
And india’s concerned. I think what we should do is make efforts to make sure that we up root ways from within the system so that we can reduce or remove human trafficking and basically the young vulnerable poor people of india are fooled into coming over as illegal immigrants and our bigger fight actually is against this ecosystem or this system that encourages such gangs to thrive and i can tell you that india will completely support your endeavor in achieving this.
President Trump: yes, thank you.
Reporter: thank you, mr. President. Question for prime minister modi first, if i may. I wanted to ask you did you discuss any personal business deals with elon musk during your meetings today, mr. Prime minister? And mr. President, i wanted to ask you, today you spoke about hoping to have three-way talks about president xi and president putin. What would you say to european leaders and other allies who may be concerned that your apparently more keen to speak to america’s adversaries than allies? Thank you.
President Trump: maybe i’ll just go first on this one. We had some talks and we told the european union, we told the nato people, largely the overlap, you have to pay more money because it’s unfair what we’re doing. We’re doing a tremendous amount more. We’re probably $200 billion more going into ukraine using ukraine to fight and europe has not really carried its way in terms of the money. It’s not equity he’ll and we want to see a counter balance. We want to have them put up more money. They have to do that. At the same time we had a very good conversation with president putin the other day, yesterday.
We also had a very good conversation, i did, in both cases with president zelensky. I think we’re going to be able to do something. I think we’re going to be able to make a deal. I hope so because it’s a horrible war. It’s a very terrible, bloody war with a million and a half soldiers dead in the paddle field, lying dead in the field, nobody’s ever seen anything like it, certainly since the second world war.
I think we’re going to be able to do something. We’re working with president zelensky and president putin and my impression is — i know that president zelensky wants to make a deal and i also feel that i know that president putin wants to make a deal. I wanted to know that before i began any details discussions. But the meeting and the conversation, also the meeting with steve in moscow was a very successful one and my phone call with him was a very successful one. Please. — vice president
Prime Minister Modi: you asked a question regarding elon musk. I have known him for a very long time. I was not even prime minister at the time when he first met him. I was chief minister and today he came to meet me along with all his family, with his children , so we had a nice concern. As far as evs are concerned, the word ev has a copyright and that is one person who has a copyright for the word ev and that is trump .
Reporter: thank you, mr. President. Can i ask whether you discussed at all the case of one of the wealthiest men in asia and perceived as an ally of prime minister modi. Prime minister modi, have you asked to take action on that case? Thank you.
Prime Minister Modi: india is a democratic country and our philosophy is meaning that the entire world is a family. Every indian is my own family member and when it comes to such personal matters, leaders of two countries will not get together on the topic and discuss anything on an individual matter — president trump: please . Go ahead, please.
Reporter: thank you, mr. President. Prime minister, i have a question for you as well. You have suggested with regards to the russia-ukraine war, you suggested several things that ukraine should give up, the idea of nato membership, territory seized by russia. What should russia give up?
President Trump: Russia has gotten themselves into something that i think they wish they didn’t. If i were president, it would not have happened, absolutely would not have happened, and it wouldn’t have happened for four years. If you look at what has taken place under president bush, they lost a lot. Under president trump they lost cry crimea. Under trump they lost nothing, ukraine lost nothing. They didn’t give up anything.
You take a look at the other three presidents surrounding me, they gave up a lot. I think that when you look at ukraine, when you look at the mess that they are in, it’s got to be ended and stopped. Russia’s taken over a pretty big chunk of territory and they also have said from day one long before president putin. They said they cannot have ukraine be a nato. They said that very strongly. I think that was the thing that caused the start of the war.
Biden said it and zelensky said it and i think that was one of the reasons, one of the starts of the war. But from long before putin, they said you cannot have, you cannot have ukraine going in in any way into nato, and i start from that standpoint. I think everybody knew that. Now if a better deal can be negotiated, if they are able to make a deal where they can do that, that’s fine with me. I really don’t care. I want that blood shed to stop.
I don’t want to see — we have an ocean between us and the sight we’re — site we’re talking about, we’re calling it the fields of death. We have a big ocean between us. This is more important for europe. They are going to have to equalize fast but as far as the negotiation, it’s too early to say what’s going to happen. Maybe russia will give up a lot, maybe they won’t and it’s all dependent on what is going to happen.
The negotiation really hasn’t started but i will say as far as nato is concerned, many years before president putin, i will tell you that russia would never accept that and i think ukraine knew that because ukraine wasn’t and never requested to be until more recently, so that’s the way it is and i think that’s the way it’s going to have to be. Go ahead, please. All right, go ahead, please, with the tie. With the tie, yeah.
Reporter: mr. President — president trump: yes, go ahead, please.
Reporter: you spoke about prime minister modi as a tough negotiator. Who was a tougher negotiator today and who was a better negotiating tactic? — president trump: he’s a much tougher negotiator than me and a much better negotiator than me. There’s not each a contest. Okay? Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead, go ahead.
Reporter: how do you see this relationship between india and the united states to counter china and what is your vision when it comes to india brokering peace in the ukraine and russia conflict? — president trump: i think we’re going to have a very good relationship with china. I got along with president xi very well until covid. That was a bridge too far.
I got along with president xi. We were very close as far as leaders go. I don’t want to be naive. I think as leaders go, we were very close. I think they can help us get this war over with ukraine and russia. I look at india, i do see the skirmishes on the border which are quite vicious.
If i can be of help, i’d love to help because that’s been going on for a long time, and it’s quite violent. I would hope that china and india and russia and u. s. And all of us can get along. It’s very important. You know, the power of weaponry today is not only nuclear but nuclear in particular. The power of weaponry is very important. I said before that i had very constructive talks in my first term with president putin about due nuclearization and then we were going to go to china after we worked some kind of a i deal.
Thought, he really wanted to do it and so did i, it’s such a beautiful term when you think about it. On the other hand, to bring it down because the power of those weapons is too great. I did speak to president xi about that and i was getting a good response, building a very strong nuclear power. He’s not very close to russia or the united states right now. He will catch up over the period of four or five years they say but it would be a great thing if we could on a military basis. Let’s say 915 billion dollars on military.
Russia without the war was spending close to 100 but with the war, i can’t tell you what they are spending but they are spending a lot and china’s spending $450 billion. We’re over $900 billion. I said it doesn’t really make sense. We’re spending the money against each other and we could spend that money for better purpose if we got along. I’ll tell you that something like that will happen first. When i left four years ago, we didn’t have israel and the middle east, we didn’t have october 7th, the disaster, nothing was happening.
Iran was not going to do anything because iran did not have much money at this point. They were broke. They were totally broke. They didn’t have money for hamas, hezbollah and you didn’t have russia with ukraine and that never would have happened. But now i come back and i v the whole world is on fire so i have to put out the fires but after i put out the fires, i’m going to meet with china and i’m going to meet with russia and we’ll see if we can deescalate it, bring it down, especially as it pertains to nuclear. Please.
Reporter: prime minister, how do you see india’s role? You have had discussions with president trump about deescalating the conflict in russia and ukraine.
Prime Minister: As you know i have been in constant contact with both russia and ukraine. I have visited both countries and many people are mistaken and feel that india is neutral. I would like to clarify india is not neutral. We have taken a side and we have taken the side of peace . And it is based on this principle of ours that in the presence of president putin, i clearly said in front of the media that this is not the era of war and even today it is my conviction that solutions cannot be found on the battle field.
Ultimately you have to come to the negotiating table and india has constantly made efforts that there are talks that take place where both parties are present. It is only then that we will find a solution. The efforts being made by president trump, i support them, i welcome them and i would like that president trump is successful as soon as possible so that the world is on the path to peace once again. — president trump: everybody, thank you very much.
Thank you very much. And i very much appreciate the prime minister visiting our great country and i do really appreciate it. We have so much in common. All we want to do is have peace and we want to have strength and lots of different things together but the relationship with india and with the prime minister has never been better. Thank you very much.
[ applause ] — president trump: thank you.
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