Contrary to his senior aide Peter Navarro’s rants about India, US President Donald Trump embraced a starkly different choice of words to address where the India-America ties stand. On Tuesday (US time), he revealed via his social media platform that negotiations on the trade front were still on with India despite his previous claims that the South Asian nation and Russia had been “lost” to China.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, China’s Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin showcased a united stand at the 2025 Tianjin SCO summit merely weeks ago. Social media was flooded with snaps of the unlikely trio’s pictured interactions in China.

Shortly after that international gathering, the Russian leader returned to the country for a military parade, with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un also joining in the conversations this time. Trump, on the other hand, pushed a scathing Truth Social post, accusing the lethal trio of “conspiring” against the United States.

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Trump to meet Modi soon

Amid all that worldly exchanges and ongoing debates over global diplomacy, the US has continued to hit it out against India for its purchase of Russian oil amid the country’s war in Ukraine. In a significant shift, Donald Trump announced just hours ago that he was anticipating a meet-up with PM Modi soon.

“I look forward to speaking with my very good friend, Prime Minister Modi, in the upcoming weeks,” he shared via Truth Social. “I feel certain that there will be no difficulty in coming to a successful conclusion for both of our Great Countries!”

Trump’s latest words on Modi echo what he said last Friday. At the time, he insisted that he and the Indian leader would always remain friends even if he didn’t “like what he’s doing at this particular moment.” The MAGA leader further asserted both countries “have a special friendship,” and there was nothing to worry about as they “just have moments on occasion.”

PM Modi responds

Calling India and the US “close friends and natural partners,” the India leader responded to Trump’s message on X early Wednesday morning (IST). “I am confident that our trade negotiations will pave the way for unlocking the limitless potential of the India-US partnership.”

Modi highlighted that both teams were committed to concluding trade discussions as early as possible. He also foregrounded that he was equally looking forward to his talks with Trump, as they “will work together to secure a brighter, more prosperous future for both our people.”

US-India trade further complicated with additional threat of 100% tariffs? What we know

With a trade deal stuck in the middle, India was ultimately hit with “secondary sanctions” in August, resulting in the most severe tariff hit amounting to 50% of levies on Indian goods coming into US. The White House and other senior officials have repeatedly foregrounded that the additional duties were a measured response to New Delhi’s refusal to dropping Russian oil purchases.

On top of the existing staggering levies, a new report released on Tuesday presented yet another looming threat of even higher tariffs on India. This time, China was also dragged into the mix. Although India has been hit with additional tariffs over its ties with Russia despite Ukraine being invaded, China actually remains the biggest purchaser of the fuel.

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US State Secretary Marco Rubio had previously clarified that China had been spared while India not so much because imposing higher levies on Beijing would spiral into a drastic rise in global oil prices.

“Now, if you look at the oil that’s going to China and being refined, a lot of that is then being sold back into Europe,” he told Fox Business last month. “Europe’s also buying natural gas still. There are countries trying to wean themselves off it, but there’s more Europe can do with regard to their own sanctions.”

Despite the initial relief for China, this week’s report by the Financial Times indicated that President Trump had pushed EU officials to slap both China and India with expensive tariffs of up to 100%. According to a US official and EU diplomat, speaking on terms of anonymity, the American leader’s latest move is yet another measure to strategically exert pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine.

As per the official sources’ intel, Trump conveyed his message to EU sanctions envoy David O’Sullivan and others via a conference call. The international delegatiosparedn is present in Washington at the moment to weigh out sanctions negotiations. The US also expressed that it would hit the countries with similar tariffs if the European Union did it, according to the diplomat.

Donald Trump’s announcement of an upcoming interaction with Narendra Modi comes a day after a Bloomberg analysis of the US Treasury Department data determined that India had eased off on its purchase of American Treasuries. The changing figures indicated a drop from $235.3 billion in May to $227.4 billion in June.