Donald Trump Calls India Abuser of Trade Ties, While Praises Modi Ahead their Meeting Next Week

Former US President and Republican nominee Donald Trump has criticised India as a “very big abuser” of trade agreement, at a campaign in Michigan on September 17. Additionally, he highlighted his upcoming meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week and called him a “fantastic man”. 

“So, when India, which is a very big abuser-he happens to be coming to meet me next week, and Modi, he’s fantastic. I mean, fantastic, man, these, a lot of these leaders are fantastic...,” said Donald Trump at the campaign. India is very tough, he added. 

While addressing the public, Trump didn’t disclose details about his upcoming meeting with PM Modi. His announcement comes at a time when US President Joe Biden is set to host fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit from September 21 to 23 in Delaware. Apart from Modi, leaders of Australia and Japan will be part of the meeting as well. 

Moreover, Modi will address ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23. The theme of the summit is ‘Multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow’. This will be Modi’s first visit to the US since he won a third term in office in June. 

This, however, wasn’t the first time when Trump has showered Modi with good words. Previously, during Trump’s tenure as president, the leaders of the country shared warm relations. In 2019, when Modi visited the US and was part of “Howdy, Modi!” rally, which was attended by nearly 50,000 people, Trump and Modi exchanged praises for each other. 

To extend the same welcoming treatment to Donald Trump, when the former President visited India in 2020, Modi held a huge gathering for him called “Namaste Trump”.