“Fully Reciprocate His Sentiments”: PM Modi On Trump’s “Will Always Be Friends”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he “fully reciprocates his sentiments” in response to US President Donald Trump’s “always be friends” statement on Saturday, amid the tense India-US relations over tariffs. The prime minister claims that the US and India have a “very positive” international strategic alliance.

“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,” PM Modi wrote on X.

Trump, on Friday, called India US ties a “very special relationship” and affirmed that he and PM Modi would “always be friends”. However, he expressed displeasure over what PM Modi is “doing” at the moment – referring to India’s Russian oil imports.

“I’ll always be friends with PM Modi. He’s a great Prime Minister. 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 very special relationship. There is nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion,” Trump said.

After the Trump administration placed secondary taxes on India for purchasing Russian energy, relations between the US and India deteriorated in recent weeks. With the exception of Brazil, the US tariffs on Indian products now exceed 50%, the highest rate Trump has levied in his new list.

The action was denounced as “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable” by India. Despite their own tense relations with the US, PM Modi shared goodwill with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping while attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin, China. In photos and videos, the three leaders could be seen grinning, embracing, and shaking hands. In order to demonstrate their solidarity in the face of Trump’s tariffs on India, PM Modi also posted pictures of himself with the two leaders.

Trump asserted that the US “lost India to China” a few days later. He later emphasized, though, that he “does not believe so” “I don’t think we have (lost India). I’ve been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil from Russia. I let them know that. We put a very big tariff on India- 50 per cent, a very high tariff. I get along very well with PM Modi, as you know. He was here a couple of months ago, in fact, we went to the Rose Garden and had a press conference,” he told the media.