Photo: Screenshot/Official White House YouTube video
President Donald Trump has praised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “great gentleman” trying to bring together Inddian factions as the two leaders discussed U.S.-India comprehensive strategic partnership.
Meeting in Manila, Philippines, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, Trump and Modi discussed the “comprehensive strategic partnership between the United States and India and their shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” the White House said.
The ASEAN forum groups together South East Asian nations.
“They pledged to enhance their cooperation as Major Defense Partners, resolving that two of the world’s great democracies should also have the world’s greatest militaries,” a White House readout of the meeting said.
According to the statement, President Trump expressed appreciation that Indian purchases of oil from the United States have surpassed 10 million barrels in recent months, and expressed confidence that stronger energy cooperation will be a geopolitical and economic game changer for both countries.
Prime Minister Modi noted that he looks forward to hosting the United States delegation to the upcoming Global Entrepreneurship Summit, showcasing innovation and collaboration between India and the United States, the statement added.
Trump expressed his admiration for Modi.
“It’s great to have Prime Minister Modi here. We’ve had him at the White House, and he’s become a friend of ours and a great gentleman doing a fantastic job in bringing around lots of factions in India — bringing them all together,” the U.S. president said.
“That’s what I hear, and that’s good news. And it really is. It’s a lot of good reports coming out of India. So I want to congratulate you.”
A delighted Modi said the relations between India and the United States are growing “very rapidly with a great deal of speed. And they’re getting deeper and very comprehensive.”
“And I also feel that and that these relations between India and the U.S., they are not just for our mutual interests, but they go much beyond that. And we are working together for the interest of the future of Asia and for humanity as a whole in the world. And there are many areas where we are working together and we can work together in the future, too,” he said, according to his remarks released to the Press.
Modi noted that Trump has expressed very high opinion about India and also things which are full of hope whenever he has spoken about India.
“And I would like to assure you that whatever the expectations are of the world, of the United States, from India, India has always worked and made efforts to do our bit and to fulfill those expectations. And we will continue to do so in the future, too.”
Analysts see U.S.-India relations in both the bilateral context but also as counterweight to a rising China.
