Ignore trade irritants, focus on strategic ties

The Trump team is prioritizing relations with India and recognizes that India's emergence as a global power has the potential to transform the Indo-Pacific region and the world

- Lisa Curtis

In the first Trump administration, Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi visited the White House in June 2017, six months after Donald J. Trump took power. This time around, Modi will visit the White House less than one month into President Trump's second term. The question is whether Modi's early venture into Trump's world—which has been marked by an unusual level of chaos and disruption—will pay off for India.

Chances are that the Modi-Trump meeting will go smoothly. India's foreign minister S. Jaishankar already had a successful meeting with his counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on the latter's first day on the job. Modi and Trump also spoke on the phone one week after inauguration day. The Trump administration's early attention to India is notable, given all that is happening in the United States (US), including the shuttering of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has roiled the international development community.

Modi will be the fourth foreign leader to step into the middle of the American tumult. During the Israeli PM's visit last week, President Trump surprised observers with an unexpected proposal for the US to take control of the Gaza Strip. Trump's meeting with Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba last Friday was less attention-grabbing, and notable for its friendliness and lack of confrontation. Modi hopes for similar treatment.

Trump's priorities will be the deportations of illegal Indians and India's notoriously high tariffs. Modi appears prepared to take the heat. Last week, India announced it was lowering import duties on high-end motorcycles, a move that will open the door for the US to export more Harley-Davidson bikes to the country. India may also offer to purchase more American oil and gas to narrow the US trade deficit.