In a phone call to US President Donald Trump on Monday Night, Prime Minister Modi extended warm wishes to him, his family and the people of United States for New Year and emphasised that ties between the two nations "have grown from strength to strength”.
According to the statement issued by India’s foreign ministry on Tuesday, Modi highlighted the significant progress achieved in deepening of New Delhi’s strategic partnership with Washington and at the same time conveyed India’s interest in cooperating in areas of mutual interest.
President Trump, too, wished the people of India prosperity and progress in the New Year.
“He (Trump) expressed satisfaction at the achievements in the relationship in the last few years and reiterated his readiness for further deepening bilateral cooperation,” the statement said.
According to media reports quoting the outgoing Indian envoy to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla, both countries are in the process of inking a trade agreement that stipulates increased market access to both New Delhi and Washington.
Earlier, the US President had expressed dissatisfaction with India’s trade policy saying that the import tariffs imposed by India on American products were “unacceptable”.
Taking a dig at New Delhi’s decision, Trump had said: “India is a very, very high-tariff nation, and they charge tremendous, tremendous numbers.”
In September, 2019 Prime Minister Modi addressed close to 50,000 Indian Diaspora in Houston, Texas and had also invited President Trump to the event, "Howdy Modi". It was the largest gathering ever for an elected visiting foreign leader in the United States. During his address, Modi also spoke in favour of Trump for his next presidency. He told Modi that India had “never a better friend in the White House than President Donald Trump".
