After Trump calls India-US ties 'special', Modi fully reciprocates US president's assessment

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday "deeply" appreciated US President Donald Trump's "positive assessment" of the India-US partnership after the American leader hailed the "special" relationship between the two nations -- remarks seen as an attempt to check the downturn in the ties. The prime minister's comments on social media came hours after Trump said at a news conference in the White House that he will always be "friends with Modi" but added without elaborating that he didn't like what the Indian leader was doing at this "particular moment". "Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump's sentiments and positive assessment of our ties," Modi said. "India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership," he noted on X. It was the first exchange of views between the two leaders after they held a phone conversation on June 17. The relations between New Delhi and Washington are on a major downturn after Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including 25 per cent additional duties for India's purchase of Russian crude oil. India described the US action as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable".

Earlier, responding to a question on the possibility of the US resetting relations with India, Trump said both countries have a special relationship and there is "nothing to worry about". "I will always be friends with Modi, he is a great prime minister, he's great. I'll always be friends but I just don't like what he's doing at this particular moment," he said. "But India and the United States have a special relationship. There is nothing to worry about," the US president said. Asked about his social media post on Thursday suggesting that the US was losing India to China, Trump said, "I don't think we have. I have been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil... from Russia." "And I let them know that we put a very big tariff on India -- 50 per cent tariff, very high tariff. I get along very well with Modi as you know, he was here a couple of months ago." "In fact, we went to the Rose Garden, the grass was so soaking wet, it was such a terrible place to have a news conference. We had a news conference on the grass, it was my last news conference we had on the grass." In his social media post on Thursday, Trump said it appeared that the US was losing India and Russia to "deepest, darkest China". The post came days after the bonhomie among Prime Minister Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Chinese city of Tianjin drew global attention.

In the last few days, several Trump administration officials including White House trade advisor Peter Navarro have used offensive language to target India. India's big oil lobby has turned the largest democracy in the world into a "massive refining hub and oil money laundromat for the Kremlin", Navarro said last week. India on Friday rejected Navarro's remarks, describing them as "inaccurate and misleading". US President Donald Trump said India and the United States have a “special relationship” and there's nothing to worry about as the two countries "just have moments on occasion”, amid current tensions between Washington and Delhi over tariffs and purchases of Russian oil. “I'll always be friends with (Narendra) Modi, he’s a great prime minister. He's great. I'll always be friends, but I just don't like what he's doing at this particular moment," Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday. "But India and the United States have a special relationship. There's nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion," Trump added with a smile.

The president was responding to a question on whether he is ready to reset relations with India, as ties between the two countries continue to reel under possibly the worst phase in over two decades. Trump also said that he is “very disappointed" that India would be buying "so much" oil from Russia. “I've been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil from Russia, and I let them know that. We put a very big tariff on India, 50 per cent tariff, very high tariff. I get along very well with (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi, he's great. He was here a couple of months ago,” Trump said in response to a question on his social media post that the US has lost India and Russia to China. In the Truth Social post, Trump said that “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together! President Donald J. Trump”.

Trump had also posted an old photo of Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Trump's post on social media came days after the bonhomie among Modi, Xi and Putin at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Chinese city of Tianjin drew global attention. To a question on how trade talks are going with India and other countries, Trump said, “They are going great. Other countries are doing great. We're doing great with all of them. We're upset with the European Union because of what's happening with not just Google, but with all of our big companies.” Meanwhile, Trump administration’s Senior Counsellor for Trade and Manufacturing, Peter Navarro, said in a post on X that India’s highest tariffs costs US jobs. “India buys Russian oil purely to profit/revenues feed Russia war machine. Ukrainians/Russians die. US taxpayers shell out more. India can't handle truth/spins,” Navarro said. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett has said that Trump and his trade team are disappointed that India continues to “fund” Russia's Ukraine war. “I think that the trade team and the president are disappointed that India continues to fund Russia's Ukraine war, and hopefully it's a diplomatic issue that it will have positive development soon,” Hassett told reporters in the White House Friday.