PM Narendra Modi’s reforms initiatives have got fulsome praise from US President Donald Trump. Trump on Friday said that India has been able to achieve astounding growth and a new world of opportunities for its expanding middle class. Trump added that Modi has been working to bring that vast country and all of its people together as one, adding that he’s working at it “very, very successfully indeed”. Speaking Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit of chief executives in Vietnam, Trump also slammed China for trade practices that, according to him have put Americans out of work and warned that the US would no longer “turn a blind eye” to trade abuses, reported Times of India.

“India is celebrating its 70th anniversary. It’s a sovereign democracy, as well as…think of this… (one) of over one billion people,” said the US President today, with the flourish he has come to be known for. “It’s the largest democracy in the world,” he was quoted as saying. “Since India opened its economy it has achieved astounding growth and a new world of opportunity for its expanding middle class, and PM Modi has been working to bring that vast country and all of its people together as one, and he’s working at it very, very successfully indeed,” said Trump.

Watch | Trump praises Modi at APEC

In the speech, Trump said he had spoken “openly and directly” with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit about “about China’s unfair trade practices and the enormous trade deficits they have produced with the United States,’ AP reports.   Trump added that China’s trade surplus, which stood at $223 billion for the first 10 months of the year, was unacceptable, and repeated his language from Thursday when he said he did “not blame China” or any other country “for taking advantage of the United States on trade.”  The leaders of Japan, Russia, China and South Korea are also attending the APEC summit.