Washington: Former US President Donald Trump, who is running for office for a second time, has showered praises on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him “fantastic” but recognised the South Asian country as “tough” and “abuser” when it comes to tariffs and trade relationships.
Trump said, “So when India, which is a very big abuser…. He (Narendra Modi) happens to be coming to meet me next week. And, Modi is a fantastic man. A lot of these leaders are fantastic… These people are the sharpest people.
“They are not a little bit backward… They are at the top of their game and they use it against us. But India is very tough. Brazil is very tough… China is the toughest of all. But we are taking care of China with the tariffs.”
Trump, whose bonhomie with Modi was evident during the former’s tenure from 2016 to 2020, made the remark ahead of Modi’s scheduled visit to the United States to attend the annual QUAD Summit next week.
Modi will be in the US from September 21 to 24.
Trump, a Republican candidate, is facing a tough contest from current US Vice President and Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris. The US Presidential elections will be held later this year.
US President Joe Biden will be hosting the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Wilmington, Delaware.
India will host the next Quad Summit in 2025, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Tuesday.
“Following the request of the US side to host the Quad Summit this year, India has agreed to host the next Quad Summit in 2025. At the Quad Summit, the leaders will review the progress achieved by the Quad over the last one year and set the agenda for the year ahead to assist the countries of the Indo-Pacific region in meeting their development goals and aspirations,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
The Quad meeting, to be attended by the leaders of Australia and Japan, will also be a farewell meeting for President Biden.
While Biden is not running for a second term in the US presidential elections, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is also set to resign from his post.
Quad is a diplomatic partnership between four countries comprising Australia, India, Japan, and the United States.
In recent years, Quad Foreign Ministers have met eight times and Quad governments continue to meet and coordinate at all levels.
