Modi leaves Trump summit with to-do list despite concessions:Bloomberg
3 Min Read
Sonal Varma, chief economist for India at Nomura Singapore Ltd., expressed the belief that "India still remains in Trump’s line of fire on reciprocal tariffs."
-
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a news conference with Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House on February 13, 2025. (AP)
According to Bloomberg, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "counting on a series of concessions" before he met with US President Donald Trump, to maintain his country's good relations with the US after weeks of threats to impose tariffs.
Indian officials familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg the meeting was not "all bad,"
While India will wait to read the fine print of the reciprocal tariffs, an agreement to proceed with a bilateral trade treaty offers India flexibility to negotiate, according to the officials who asked to remain anonymous.
A senior official told Bloomberg that Modi clearly departed with a "to-do list," as Trump has made it clear he is determined to reduce the $41 billion US trade deficit with India.
Sonal Varma, chief economist for India at Nomura Singapore Ltd., expressed the belief that "India still remains in Trump’s line of fire on reciprocal tariffs, even as the two countries have reiterated their strategic partnership."
Among India's most notable pledges were plans to increase purchases of US energy and weapons. Currently, Russia is India's primary supplier of both, and the US has long sought to edge out Moscow.
Trump announced that the country will look to significantly increase military sales to India, "to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters."
Trump, who spoke at a joint news conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hoped to increase arms exports to India by "many billions of dollars."
Outside of NATO, only "Israel", Japan, and South Korea operate fifth-generation stealth fighters, placing India in an exclusive group if the deliveries are made. The country has long been in pursuit of a fifth-generation stealth fighter and even patterned with Russia to develop one, however, it pulled out in 2018 following complications.
That project led to the production of the Russian Su-57 stealth fighter, which faced off against the F-35 jet at the India Air Show this week. Trump's announcement comes after Russia offered the Indian government Su-57 fighters, an Indian official told Reuters.
Indian authorities are yet to confirm what offer they will be taking up. It is worth noting that at least 1,000 F-35 jets have been produced to this day, while only 32 Su-57s are reported to be operated by the Russian Air Force.
