Washington: US President Donald Trump on Friday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him a “great Prime Minister” and affirming that he would “always be friends” with him. The remarks came during a White House press conference, where Trump appeared to soften his earlier statement suggesting the US had “lost” India to China.
“He’s a great Prime Minister. He’s great. I’ll always be friends but I just don’t like what he is doing at this particular moment. But India and the United States have a special relationship. There’s nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasions” Trump said.
Responding to Trump’s comments, Modi wrote on X, “Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump's sentiments and positive assessment of our ties. India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership.”
Trump’s fresh remarks came after he was asked whether he blamed anyone for “losing India to China.” He replied, “I don’t think we have,” while adding that although he gets along very well with Modi, he was “very disappointed” with India over its continued purchase of Russian oil.
“I've been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil, as you know, from Russia, and let them know that we put a very big tariff on India, 50 per cent tariff, very hot tariff,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Trump had shared a picture of Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Truth Social, writing, “Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!”
The statements reflect a growing hard line from Trump and his aides towards India. White House advisor Peter Navarro reiterated his criticism on X, saying India’s “highest tariffs costs US jobs.” Trump’s aide Laura Loomer claimed the administration was considering blocking American IT companies from outsourcing work to India, though she provided no evidence.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also signaled tougher trade conditions in an interview with Bloomberg. He said India should stop buying Russian oil and distance itself from BRICS if it wanted to avoid steep tariffs. “Support the dollar, support the United States of America, support your biggest client, who is the American consumer, or I guess you're going to pay a 50 per cent tariff. And let's see how long this lasts,” he said.
He described India’s increasing dependence on Russian crude as “plain wrong.”
In response, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended India’s position, asserting that the country will continue to source oil from Russia. “Where we buy our oil from, especially a big-ticket foreign exchange item where we pay so much, highest in terms of import, we will have to take a call on what suits us best. “We will undoubtedly be buying,” she told News18.