Trump Says He May Visit India Next Year, Praises PM Modi As 'A Great Man'

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he could visit India next year, noting that discussions with New Delhi are “going good” and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “largely stopped buying oil from Russia,” according to PTI.

Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump said, “It’s great, going good. He (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) stopped... Largely he stopped buying oil from Russia.”

The US president added that Modi had invited him to India and that he was considering the trip. “He’s a friend of mine, and we speak... He wants me to go there. We’ll figure that out. I’ll go. I had a great trip there with Prime Minister Modi, he’s a great man. And I’ll be going,” Trump said.

When asked whether his visit would take place next year, Trump responded, “It could be, yeah.”

India is set to host the next Quad summit in New Delhi, which will bring together leaders from Australia, Japan, and the United States. The 2024 edition of the summit was held in Wilmington, Delaware, though dates for the upcoming meeting in India are yet to be confirmed.

During his remarks, Trump reiterated his claim that he had helped to prevent a conflict between India and Pakistan in May, saying that trade measures played a key role in easing tensions.

“Of the eight wars I ended, I would say five or six were ended because of tariffs,” he said. “I’ll give you an example. If you take a look at India and Pakistan, they started to fight, they are two nuclear nations... They were shooting each other. Eight planes were shot down. It was seven. Now it is eight, because the one that was sort of shot down is now abandoned. Eight planes were shot down.”

According to PTI, Trump added that he used economic pressure to defuse the situation. “And I said, ‘Listen, if you guys are going to fight, I’m gonna put tariffs on you’. And they both went, you know, they were not happy about that. And within 24 hours, I settled the war. If I didn’t have tariffs, I wouldn’t have been able to settle that war.”

He further described tariffs as a vital tool of foreign policy. “The president also termed tariffs a ‘great national defence’,” PTI reported.

(With inputs from PTI)