San Francisco Frontiers - India's Modi seeks to boost Trump bromance on key visit

Trump will be pushing for a "fair" trade deal with India, while the two leaders will also discuss a new defense partnership and military sales during the meeting, senior White House officials said.

Modi will hold a joint press conference with Trump -- a rare move from the Indian leader, who is a prolific social media user but seldom takes questions from reporters.

He will also hold a one-on-one meeting with tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has launched an aggressive effort as Trump's right-hand man to overhaul the federal bureaucracy.

"There's a lot of natural warmth dating back to President Trump's first term," a senior Trump administration official said.

But the official said that while there was "early body language from the government of India that has been well received," they were "modest steps" and there remained "a lot more work to do."

So far Modi has offered quick tariff concessions ahead of his visit, with New Delhi slashing duties on high-end motorcycles -- a boost to Harley-Davidson, the iconic American manufacturer whose struggles in India have irked Trump.

The two leaders would make a further push towards a trade deal with a hope to have it in place sometime this year, the official added.

US officials said it would be up to Trump to talk about any possible tariffs on India. The United States had a $45.6 billion trade deficit with India in 2024, according to US figures.

India has already accepted a US military flight carrying 100 shackled migrants last week as part of Trump's immigration overhaul, and New Delhi has vowed its own "strong crackdown" on illegal migration.

India's top career diplomat Vikram Misri said last week that there had been a "very close rapport" between the leaders, although their ties have so far failed to bring a breakthrough on a long-sought bilateral trade deal.

Modi was among the first to congratulate "good friend" Trump after his November election win.

For nearly three decades, US presidents from both parties have prioritized building ties with India, seeing a natural partner against a rising China.

But Trump has also raged against India over trade, the biggest foreign policy preoccupation of his new term, in the past calling the world's fifth-largest economy the "biggest tariff abuser."

Former property tycoon Trump has unapologetically weaponized tariffs against friends and foes since his return.

- 'Trump's anger' -

Modi "has prepared for this, and he is seeking to preempt Trump's anger," said Lisa Curtis, the National Security Council director on South Asia during Trump's first term.

While US public attention has focused on deporting Latin Americans, India is the third-biggest source of undocumented immigrants in the United States after Mexico and El Salvador.

Indian activists burned an effigy of Trump last week after the migrants on the US plane were flown back in shackles the whole journey, while the opposition accused Modi's Hindu-nationalist government of weakness.

One thing Modi is set to avoid, however, is official US scrutiny of his record on the rights of Muslims and other minorities.

Trump is unlikely to highlight an issue on which former president Joe Biden's administration offered gentle critiques.

Modi is the fourth world leader to visit Trump since his return, following the prime ministers of Israel and Japan, and the king of Jordan.

Modi assiduously courted Trump during his first term.

The two share much in common, with both campaigning on promises to promote majority communities over minorities and both doggedly quashing dissent.

In 2020, Modi invited Trump before a cheering crowd of more than 100,000 people to inaugurate the world's largest cricket stadium in his home state of Gujarat.

Trump could visit India later this year for a summit of the Quad -- a four-way grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

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M.Hill--SFF