Narendra Modi and Trump pledge to destroy ‘radical Islamic terrorism’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump vowed to destroy “radical Islamic terrorism” after their first meeting on Monday. This is also the first time Trump hosted a working dinner for a foreign dignitary at the White House.

In a joint briefing following their one-on-one meeting and delegation-level discussions at the White House, Modi said “We talked about terrorism, extremism and radicalisation and agreed to cooperate on this.” The leaders did not take questions from the media afterwards.

Trump described India as a “true friend” of the White House that was “the fastest growing economy in the world”. He said, “We hope we will be catching up with you very soon.” The US President also had effusive praise for Modi’s performance as prime minister. “You have done a great job. Economically, India’s doing very well.”

Modi said the United States is a “primary partner” for India’s transformation and praised Trump’s “great leadership”. He also invited him to visit India.

A day before their meeting, Trump had referred to Modi as his “true friend”. Minutes later, Modi returned the gesture and thanked Trump for the “warm personal welcome”. “Greatly look forward to my meeting and discussions with you @realDonaldTrump,” he had tweeted.

Counter-terrorism

Modi and Trump said their administrations were “true partners” who will fight and work towards “ending terror safe havens”. In their joint statement, they said destroying radical Islamic terrorism is one of the main goals of their countries’ strategic partnership.

“Both our nations have been struck by the evils of terrorism and we are both determined to destroy terrorist organisations and the radical ideology that drives them,” Trump said.

During their first conversation on the phone on January 24, Trump had assured Modi of continued support on fighting terrorism. He had emphasised that the US considers India “a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around world”.

H-1B visa and immigration

The two leaders steered clear from commenting on the H-1B visa and immigration matter, which has kept thousands of Indian employees in the US on the edge.

In April, Trump had signed an executive order – dubbed the “Buy American, Hire American” order – to introduce changes to the H-1B visa policy used by companies to hire people from outside the US for high-skilled jobs. The order proposes reforms to ensure that H-1B visas are awarded only to the most skilled or highest-paid applicant.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had allayed fears and said that the number of H-1B visas for Indian IT professionals would not be slashed. She had further added that US only wanted to correct the lottery process.

The H-1B visa allows US companies to employ workers from outside the country. Companies like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and several others seek a considerable number of H-1B visas to send Indian workers to the US. More than three lakh Indian engineers are believed to be on H-1B visas in the US.

Trade and business

Trump said he was keen on creating jobs in both countries. “I look forward to grow our trade relationship in a fair manner to bring down the trade deficit,” Trump said. The Republican president repeated his priorities to strengthen his country’s economy and increase job opportunities in the United States.

“It is important that barriers be removed to the export of US goods into your markets and that we reduce our trade deficit with your country,” Trump said. In a reference to SpiceJet’s recent announcement, the US President said he was “pleased” to learn about an “an Indian airline’s recent order of 100 new American planes, which will support thousands of American jobs.”

Modi also said he has invited Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka, to lead the US delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India later this year. On Twitter, Ivanka Trump accepted and thanked Modi for the invitation.

Prior to Modi’s visit, Trump has often spoken against the increasing US trade deficit with India and China. Leading US Congressmen had asked Trump to press Modi to remove barriers on trade and investment during their meeting. In a letter to the president, lawmakers from the Republican and Democratic parties had argued that a number of US goods were affected as India continues to be a difficult place for American companies to do business. The barriers include high tariffs, inadequate protection of intellectual property rights, and inconsistent and non-transparent licensing and regulatory practices.

On Sunday, Modi had asked the chief executive officers of 20 top US companies to invest in “business-friendly” India. Apple chief Tim Cook, Google CEO Sunder Pichai, Cisco head John Chambers and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos were among the entrepreneurs at the meeting. “We held extensive discussions on opportunities in India,” Modi tweeted later.

Paris climate deal

The two leaders made no mention of the crucial deal during their joint address. The only time climate was mentioned in the joint statement was when they called for “a rational approach that balances environment and climate policy, global economic development, and energy security needs.”

Trump had on June 1 decided to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement, claiming it “punishes” his country. Trump said countries like China and India, which were leading polluters, were getting away with a partial deal.

On June 21, US Vice President Mike Pence had said that the Paris climate deal would have given India and China a “virtual free pass” and cost the US economy more than 6.5 million jobs over the next 25 years. Pence however, said that Trump had “kept the door open” to renegotiating the Paris agreement or coming up with a new one.