Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G-7 meeting in France on June 17 was supposed to stabilize relations that have been troubled over the past year.
Trump was effusive in his praise of Modi. He told reporters that the two leaders share “a great relationship” and that India had “a great friend in the White House” as long as he was president.
However, there is little reason for India to believe that India-U.S. relations will go back to the strong partnership that existed before Trump returned for his second term.
Trump did reassure India on defense support. “I can tell you this – without having a contract, we don’t have a contract – but if they (India) were attacked, we would be there to help them,” he said, adding, “If anybody attacks that man [Modi], we’re going to be there.”
It wasn’t immediately clear who Trump was referring to as India’s adversary.
