As a part of his two-nation visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, landed in the United States of America on 12th February, 2025. PM Modi met the US President elect Donald Trump after his historic election victory and inauguration in January 2025. The visit of the Prime Minister has brought the necessary momentum in the India-US relations that have been characterized by shared values, economic ties, and security cooperation. Taking to X, PM Modi shared “Landed in Washington DC a short while ago. Looking forward to meeting @POTUS Donald Trump and building upon the India-USA Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Our nations will keep working closely for the benefit of our people and for a better future for our planet. @realDonaldTrump”. Thereafter, he was warmly received by the Indian diaspora in Washington DC.
Meeting with the US Director of National Intelligence
The U.S. Director of National Intelligence Ms. Tulsi Gabbard called on Prime Minister Modi. The meeting entailed discussions on bilateral intelligence cooperation, counter-terrorism, cyber-security, emerging threats, and strategic intelligence-sharing. They also exchanged views on regional and global developments and reaffirmed their commitment to a secure, stable, and rules-based international order.
Meeting with US National Security Advisor
US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz called on the Prime Minister, and they discussed the various facets of India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, with a special focus on strategic technologies, defence industrial cooperation, and civil nuclear energy; emphasising on small modular reactors, and counter-terrorism.
Bilateral Meeting with the President of the United States of America
The President of the United States Donald Trump hosted Prime Minister Modi for an official working visit in Washington DC on February 13, 2025. The meeting involved extensive discussions, resulting in the launching and renewing of various initiatives.
Key points of the Meeting
Defense
The leaders reaffirmed their steady commitment to a dynamic defence partnership spanning multiple domains and in that vein they announced plans to sign, in the year 2025, a new ten-year Framework for the U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership in the 21st Century. They welcomed the significant integration of U.S.-origin defense items into India’s inventory, including C-130J Super Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III, P-8I Poseidon aircraft; CH-47F Chinooks, MH-60R Seahawks, and AH-64E Apaches; Harpoon anti-ship missiles; M777 howitzers; and MQ-9Bs. Furthermore, building on the U.S.-India Roadmap for Defense Industrial Cooperation and recognizing the increasing importance of autonomous systems, the leaders announced a new initiative, namely, the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) – that aims to scale industry partnerships and production in the Indo-Pacific
Trade and Investment
The leaders committed to expand trade and investment in order to make their citizens more prosperous, nations stronger, economies more innovative and supply chains more resilient. They resolved to deepen the U.S.-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, national security and job creation. To that end, the leaders had set a new goal for bilateral trade – Mission 500 – aiming to double the bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. They launched a new initiative, namely, the U.S.-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century – to drive transformative change across key pillars of cooperation. Under this initiative, the leaders committed to a results-driven agenda with initial outcomes, in the year 2025, to demonstrate the level of trust for a mutually beneficial partnership.
Energy Security
In the domain of energy security, PM Modi and President Trump underscored the importance of U.S.-India collaboration to ensure energy affordability, reliability, availability, and stable energy markets, with a commitment to the U.S.-India Energy Security Partnership, including in oil, gas, and civil nuclear energy. They reinforced the importance of enhancing the production of hydrocarbons to ensure better global energy prices, securing affordable and reliable energy access for their citizens.
Technology and Innovation
The leaders announced the launch of the U.S.-India TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology) initiative, which aims to catalyze government-to-government, academia and private sector collaboration and promote application of critical and emerging technologies in areas like defense, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum, biotechnology, energy and space, while uplifting the use of verified technology vendors and ensuring sensitive technologies are protected.
As a central pillar of the TRUST initiative, the leaders committed to work with the U.S. and Indian private industry and put forward a U.S.-India Roadmap on Accelerating AI Infrastructure by the end of the year. Furthermore, the leaders announced the launch of INDUS Innovation, a new innovation bridge, modelled after the successful INDUS-X platform that will advance U.S.-India industry and academic partnerships, foster investments in space, energy, and other emerging technologies.
They hailed 2025 as a pioneering year for U.S.-India civil space cooperation, with plans for a NASA-ISRO effort through AXIOM to bring the first Indian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS).
Multilateral Cooperation
The leaders reaffirmed that a close partnership between the U.S. and India is central to a free, open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. As Quad partners, the leaders reiterated that this partnership is underpinned by the recognition of ASEAN centrality, adherence to international law and good governance, support for safety and freedom of navigation, over-flight, lawful uses of the seas, unhindered lawful commerce and advocacy for peaceful resolution of maritime disputes in accordance with the international law.
People-to-People Ties
Both leaders emphasized that the evolution of the world into a global workplace requires mutually advantageous and secure mobility frameworks. In this regard, the leaders committed to streamline avenues for legal mobility of students and professionals, and facilitating short-term tourist and business travel, while also address illegal immigration and human trafficking by taking strict action against bad actors, criminal facilitators, and illegal immigration networks to promote mutual security for both countries.
President Trump and Prime Minister Modi pledged to sustain high-level engagement between their governments, industries, and academic institutions and realize their ambitious vision for an enduring India-U.S. partnership.
