Indian leader\u2019s remarks follow Trump reaffirming their personal friendship and downplaying his earlier remarks about \u2018losing India\u2019 to China.<\/p>\n
Published On 6 Sep 20256 Sep 2025<\/p>\n
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says ties with the United States remain \u201cvery positive\u201d, after US President Donald Trump reaffirmed their personal friendship and downplayed earlier remarks about \u201closing India\u201d to China.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump\u2019s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties,\u201d Modi said in a statement posted on X on Saturday, adding that India and the US \u201chave a very positive and forward-looking comprehensive and global strategic partnership\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Strains have emerged<\/a> between the two longtime allies after the Trump administration imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent on Indian imports, accusing New Delhi of fuelling Moscow\u2019s deadly attacks on Ukraine by purchasing Russian oil.<\/p>\n Speculation of a deepening rift further intensified when Trump remarked on Friday that India, alongside Russia, seems to have been \u201clost\u201d to China. This came after Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a security summit in China.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, Xi hosted more than 20 leaders of non-Western countries \u2013 including Modi and Putin \u2013 for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the Chinese port city of Tianjin. It was Modi\u2019s first visit to China in seven years, signalling a thaw between the two Asian powers.<\/p>\n \u201cLooks like we\u2019ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!\u201d Trump wrote in a social media post, with a photo of Modi alongside Xi and Putin.<\/p>\n When asked by reporters later on Friday about his remarks, Trump downplayed his earlier statement, saying he did not think the US had lost India to China.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we have,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil, as you know, from Russia. And I let them know that.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump insisted that he \u201cwill always be friends with Modi\u201d, adding that \u201cIndia and the United States have a special relationship<\/a>\u201c. \u201cThere is nothing to worry about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Since his first term in office, Trump and Modi, both right-wing populists, have shared a strong bond.<\/p>\n But recently, Trump also appeared irritated at New Delhi as he sought credit for what he said was Nobel Prize-worthy diplomacy for brokering peace between Pakistan and India following the worst conflict in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.<\/p>\n India, which adamantly rejects any third-party mediation on Kashmir, has since given the cold shoulder to Trump on the matter.<\/p>\n