On Thursday, February 13, India’s ultra-right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his support for the US plan to deport all undocumented immigrants from the country, stating India is ready to take back all its citizens unconditionally.
Modi was hosted by President Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday for the first time since resuming his second term as president last month. The two leaders held a press conference after their meeting.
Replying to a question about India’s response to Trump’s crackdown on undocumented migrants in his country, Modi called it a global issue. Contradicting the discourse around the rights of migrants, he said that his government believes that “anybody who enters another country illegally has absolutely no right to be in that country.” Modi confirmed that his country agrees with Trump’s deportation plans and is ready to take back all verified Indian citizens who have been “living illegally in the US.”
Protests erupt as deportees arrive in chains and handcuffs
According to various estimates, anywhere between 200,000 and 725,000 undocumented Indian citizens are currently living in the US. Trump has declared that the millions of undocumented immigrants in the US from various countries are “illegal” and announced they will all be deported. The first batch of deported Indians, chained and handcuffed, were deported earlier this month under that declaration, later estimates claimed that 104 people were on the first plane.
The condition of the deportees sparked huge protests by opposition parties and civil society groups in India who have been demanding the Indian government protect the dignity of the people deported.
Modi claimed undocumented immigrants are victims of human trafficking and other criminal activities and his country has agreed to cooperate with the US to deal with such networks firmly.
A joint statement issued after their meeting states that both the leaders agreed to “aggressively addressing illegal immigration and human trafficking by taking strong action against bad actors, criminal facilitators, and illegal immigration networks to promote mutual security for both countries.”
Tariff war
Trump has declared India a good friend of the US and claimed the two countries are looking for ways to increase their bilateral trade. However, he also blamed India for imposing unfair tariffs on goods imported from the US and threatened reciprocal tariffs.
According to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, as quoted by AP, the bilateral trade between the US and India in 2023 was over USD 190 billion. The US exports to India were USD 70 billion while its imports from India were USD 120 billion. The US is India’s largest trading partner whereas India is 10th largest trading partner for the US.
During the press conference, Trump said that India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world. This makes it impossible to sell anything in India, he complained. He announced that the US is now a reciprocal nation and whatever tariffs India imposes on American goods will be returned with similar tariffs.
Trump has been emphasizing tariffs as a major foreign policy tool ever since assuming the office. He has already expanded the tariffs on the import of steel and aluminum and signed a new reciprocal tariff plan hours before he met with Modi. The reciprocal tariff plan aims to “bring back fairness and prosperity to the distorted international trade system” and to “stop Americans from being taken advantage of,” the administration claims.
India is one of the main countries targeted through Trump’s reciprocal tariff plan and it is expected to face difficulties in dealing with the move in the coming days if Trump’s threats are followed through.
Defense as core area of cooperation
Despite the tariff war, the joint statement emphasized that India and the US have agreed to enhance their mutual trade volume in the coming days. Modi announced that India-US mutual trade will cross USD 500 billion in the coming years.
The hope in the increase of trade was mostly based on India buying more defense equipment such as F-35 fighter jets along with oil and gas from the US. The US is also expected to increase its investments in developing nuclear energy projects in India under their nuclear agreement signed in 2008.
The US and India also agreed to enhance their cooperation in the Middle East and Indo-Pacific regions. Both countries agreed to convene the meeting of India-Middle East-Europe corridor announced during the G-20 summit in 2023 and partner countries of I2U2 group.
The Middle East-Europe Corridor was announced as an infrastructure project linking India with some countries in the Middle East and Europe as a counter to China’s Belt and Road initiative during the G-20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023. The formation of the grouping I2U2 was announced in 2021 with India, Israel, US, and UAE as its members.
The defense cooperation between India and the US extends to the Indo-Pacific with the announcement of the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA). Under ASIA the two countries agreed to enhance their defense industrial production in the Indo-Pacific. They also agreed to continue to hold Tiger Triumph tri-service military exercises in India on a larger scale and with more complexity this year.
Modi also formally invited Trump to the Quad summit meeting later this year in New Delhi. Quad is made up of the US, India, Japan and Australia. It was first formed in 2007. It was revived in 2017 with the aim of strengthening US presence in the Indo-pacific region. China has claimed Quad was formed to interfere in its affairs in the region.
The two countries also agreed to sign a new ten year Framework for major defense partnership, including supporting the overseas deployment of their armed forces in the Indo-Pacific region. The terms and conditions were not clear given the fact that India has so far been averse to the deployment of its armed forces overseas.
