Bula Devi reports from New Delhi
New Delhi Feb14 :-
Ahead of meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday a new “reciprocal” tariff policy on foreign products just the way other countries apply on American goods. This is in line with Washington’s new straightforward ‘America First’ trade policy.
US president Donald Trump initially shared a cryptic message on Truth Social just hours before his scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Modi. His tariff policy has already sent jitters across the world and Prime Minister Modi’s 36-hour visit comes amidst Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) and tariff policy.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he had decided to impose reciprocal duties, telling reporters that US allies were often “worse than our enemies” on trade issues, according to AFP.
Prime Minister Modi is being hosted by President Trump for the first bilateral talks since he assumed the presidency for a second term last month. There are high stakes involved this time as India is deeply concerned about the US’s new tariff policy and its approach to immigration.
Recent deportation of over 200 illegal Indian migrants, handcuffed and shackled in chains, in US military aircraft has already caused enough damage to the government in domestic politics with Opposition’s relentless questioning on whether the government knew the SOP before hand and if it knew then what did it do to stop its citizens being chained and sent by a military aircraft, and they also raised the issue that if Cambodia could send its own aircraft to bring back its citizens who were living in the US illegally then why could the Indian government not do the same.
Earlier in the day, the US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz called on Prime Minister Modi. They discussed ways to further deepen the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, with a focus on strategic technologies as well as defense industrial cooperation and civil nuclear energy with an emphasis on small modular reactors, and counterterrorism. They also discussed international and regional issues of mutual interest.
Elon Musk, Head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and CEO of Tesla also called on Prime Minister Modi. Musk was accompanied by his family.
They discussed strengthening collaboration between Indian and US entities in innovation, space exploration, artificial intelligence, and sustainable development. Their discussion also touched on opportunities to deepen cooperation in emerging technologies, entrepreneurship and good governance, according to a press statement of the Ministry of External Affairs.
