Modi, Trump to discuss visa issues, India-US defence cooperation

NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet United States President Donald Trump today in a White House visit that will allow the leaders to build personal rapport, but is less certain to produce significant progress on issues such as immigration.

“Look forward to welcoming India’s PM Modi to @WhiteHouse on Monday,” Mr Trump said on his presidential Twitter account on Saturday. “Important strategic issues to discuss with a true friend!”

Mr Modi is likely to lobby Trump on visas for technology workers. He is also expected to seek assurances on the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative that facilitates US arms technology transfers to India.

The Indian leader, in a statement on Twitter after he landed in Washington, thanked Mr Trump for “the warm personal welcome. Greatly look forward to my meeting and discussions with you”.

Mr Modi will attempt to advance discussions on buying 100 armed Predator drones made by California-based General Atomics, and getting Washington’s help with New Delhi’s plans for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, according to Indian defence ministry sources. Separately, a sale of unarmed patrol drones has been approved ahead of Mr Modi’s arrival, a General Atomics official said.

The two leaders may pledge deeper defence cooperation, while also discussing a harder line on Pakistan, terrorism in South Asia, and China’s role in the region. A White House official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity said that the US seeks to treat India as a major defence partner, like other close allies.

Mr Trump and Mr Modi have spoken twice on the phone, the official said, insisting that the new president has not ignored India. Today’s meeting will help deepen Mr Trump’s strategic understanding of the country, the official said.

However, there are fundamental differences between them on issues including the H-1B visas, used by many Indian IT companies, and the Paris climate accord, which India supports and Mr Trump has withdrawn the US from.

Analysts said today’s meeting at the White House would give Mr Modi the chance to size up a US leader whose focus has so far been on ties with India’s regional rival China.

“The meeting between the two leaders is very significant, obviously, because the new administration’s policies towards Asia and particularly India, are not very clear,” said Dr Sujit Datta, foreign policy specialist at New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University.

Mr Trump was looking forward to advancing common priorities on fighting terrorism, promoting economic growth, and expanding security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement earlier this month. Despite a US$66 billion (S$91.6 billion) trading relationship that is India’s second-largest, Mr Trump’s “America First” rhetoric may make it difficult for him to find common ground with a prime minister prioritising a parallel “Make in India” campaign. Both leaders are trying to boost domestic manufacturing in order to create jobs.

US lawmakers from both parties urged Mr Trump to push India to drop restrictions on trade and investment.

“Only through concrete actions that remove actual barriers to trade and investment can the US-India economic relationship flourish,” according to a letter to Mr Trump signed by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, the ranking Democrat on the committee Richard Neal, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and the panel’s top Democrat Ron Wyden.

“You’ve got a clash of economic nationalisms going on,” said Mr Ian Hall, acting director of the Griffith Asia Institute in Australia. “It’s very hard to see Modi and Trump having much in common, other than having the desire to appear strong to domestic audiences.”

Mr Trump’s other priorities, from Syria, China and Russia to domestic issues including immigration, health care and investigations into his administration, have fuelled the impression among India-watchers that New Delhi is not on Mr Trump’s radar.

While in Washington, Mr Modi is also expected to meet with Vice-President Mike Pence, Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, as well as Mr Wilbur Ross and Mr Steven Mnuchin, the secretaries of Commerce and Treasury, respectively. AGENCIES