Trump and Modi communicate frequently as trade negotiations continue: White House

White House – (Special Correspondent / Web Desk) – US President Donald Trump communicates frequently with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and trade delegations from both nations continue to meet, the White House announced on Tuesday.

“The president and his trade team continue to be in very serious discussions with India,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said.

“I know the president has great respect for Prime Minister Modi, and they speak pretty frequently.”

Trump stated last week in South Korea that he wants to achieve a trade agreement with India, signaling a thaw in relations that had deteriorated to their lowest point in decades after the US president increased tariffs on Indian imports to 50% as retaliation for India’s purchases of Russian oil.

Indian refiners cut Russian oil imports after Washington imposed sanctions last week on Moscow’s top two crude exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil.

Earlier this month, Trump claimed that Modi has agreed to cut Russian oil imports — something New Delhi has not commented on. A White House official said New Delhi had halved its purchases of Russian oil, but Indian sources said no immediate reduction had been seen.

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On October 31, the US and India signed a 10-year defence framework agreement.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth termed the agreement a “cornerstone for regional stability and deterrence”. “We’re enhancing our coordination, information sharing and tech cooperation,” he had said.

Days before that, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Malaysia to discuss bilateral relations as well as “regional and global issues”.