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AI, trade, defence, energy, cooperation: All that PM Modi and Trump discussed

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New Delhi, Feb 14: In a significant reaffirmation of their partnership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump highlighted the robust India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, rooted in mutual trust and shared democratic values.

During their high-profile meeting in Washington, the leaders emphasised their commitment to freedom, the rule of law, human rights, and pluralism, signalling a strong and vibrant alliance between their nations as per the press release from the Prime Minister’s office.

Prime Minister Modi and President Trump during their recent meeting launched a new initiative — the “US-India COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century” – to drive transformative change across key pillars of cooperation.

“Under this initiative, they committed to a results-driven agenda with initial outcomes this year to demonstrate the level of trust for a mutually beneficial partnership,” said the press release.

Defence

The leaders reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to a dynamic defence partnership spanning multiple domains. To advance defence ties further, the leaders announced plans to sign this year a new ten-year Framework for the ‘US-India Major Defense Partnership’ in the 21st Century.

The leaders welcomed the significant integration of US-origin defence items into India’s inventory to date, including C‑130J Super Hercules, C‑17 Globemaster III, P‑8I Poseidon aircraft; CH‑47F Chinooks, MH‑60R Seahawks, and AH‑64E Apaches; Harpoon anti-ship missiles; M777 howitzers; and MQ‑9Bs. The leaders determined that the US would expand defence sales and co-production with India to strengthen interoperability and defence industrial cooperation.

They also announced plans to pursue this year new procurements and co-production arrangements for “Javelin” Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and “Stryker” Infantry Combat Vehicles in India to rapidly meet India’s defence requirements expecting completion of procurement for six additional P-8I Maritime Patrol aircraft to enhance India’s maritime surveillance reach in the Indian Ocean Region following agreement on sale terms.

Recognising that India is a Major Defence Partner with Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA‑1) authorization and a key Quad partner, the US and India will review their respective arms transfer regulations, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), to streamline defence trade, technology exchange and maintenance, spare supplies and in-country repair and overhaul of US-provided defence systems.

The leaders also urged the commencement of negotiations this year for a Reciprocal Defence Procurement (RDP) agreement, aimed at better aligning their procurement systems and facilitating the mutual supply of defence goods and services. They committed to accelerating cooperation in defence technology across various domains, including space, air defence, missile systems, maritime operations, and undersea technologies. Additionally, the US announced a review of its policy regarding the release of fifth-generation fighter jets and undersea systems to India.

Building on the US-India Roadmap for Defence Industrial Cooperation and recognising the rising importance of autonomous systems, the leaders announced a new initiative – the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) – to scale industry partnerships and production in the Indo-Pacific.

The leaders welcomed a new partnership between ‘Anduril Industries and Mahindra Group’ on advanced autonomous technologies to co-develop and co-produce state-of-the-art maritime systems and advanced AI-enabled counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to strengthen regional security, and between L3 Harris and Bharat Electronics for co-development of active towed array systems.

The leaders also pledged to elevate military cooperation across all domains – air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace – through enhanced training, exercises, and operations, incorporating the latest technologies. The leaders welcomed the forthcoming “Tiger Triumph” tri-service exercise (first inaugurated in 2019) with a larger scale and complexity to be hosted in India.

Finally, the leaders committed to breaking new ground to support and sustain the overseas deployments of the US and Indian militaries in the Indo-Pacific, including enhanced logistics and intelligence sharing, as well as arrangements to improve force mobility for joint humanitarian and disaster relief operations along with other exchanges and security cooperation engagements.

Trade and investments

The leaders agreed to enhance trade and investment to improve prosperity for their citizens, strengthen their nations, foster innovation in their economies, and create more resilient supply chains. They committed to deepening the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, enhances national security, and generates job opportunities. To achieve this, they established an ambitious target for bilateral trade, called “Mission 500,” which aims to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

Recognising that this level of ambition would require new, fair-trade terms, the leaders announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by the fall of 2025. The leaders committed to designate senior representatives to advance these negotiations and to ensure that the trade relationship fully reflects the aspirations of the COMPACT.

To advance this innovative, wide-ranging BTA, the US and India will take an integrated approach to strengthen and deepen bilateral trade across the goods and services sector, and will work towards increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and deepening supply chain integration.

The leaders welcomed early steps to demonstrate a mutual commitment to address bilateral trade barriers. The US welcomed India’s recent measures to lower tariffs on US products of interest in the areas of bourbon, motorcycles, ICT products and metals, as well as measures to enhance market access for US agricultural products.

India also expressed appreciation for US measures taken to enhance exports of Indian mangoes and pomegranates to the US. Both sides also pledged to collaborate to enhance bilateral trade by increasing US exports of industrial goods to India and Indian exports of labour-intensive manufactured products to the US. The two sides will also work together to increase trade in agricultural goods.

Finally, the leaders committed to driving opportunities for US and Indian companies to make greenfield investments in high-value industries in each other’s countries.

In this regard, the leaders welcomed ongoing investments by Indian companies worth approximately $7.35 billion, such as those by Hindalco’s Novelis in finished aluminium goods at their state-of-the-art facilities in Alabama and Kentucky; JSW in steel manufacturing operations at Texas and Ohio; Epsilon Advanced Materials in the manufacture of critical battery materials in North Carolina; and Jubilant Pharma in the manufacture of injectables in Washington. These investments support over 3,000 high-quality jobs for local families.

Energy Security

The leaders underscored the importance of US-India collaboration to ensure energy affordability, reliability, availability and stable energy markets. Realising the consequential role of the US and India, as leading producers and consumers, in driving the global energy landscape, the leaders re-committed to the US-India Energy Security Partnership, including in oil, gas, and civil nuclear energy.

The leaders underscored the importance of enhancing the production of hydrocarbons to ensure better global energy prices and secure affordable and reliable energy access for their citizens. The leaders also underscored the value of strategic petroleum reserves to preserve economic stability during crises and resolved to work with key partners to expand strategic oil reserve arrangements.

In this context, the US side affirmed its firm support for India to join the International Energy Agency as a full member.

The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to increase energy trade, as part of efforts to ensure energy security and to establish the US as a leading supplier of crude oil and petroleum products and liquified natural gas to India.

The leaders announced their commitment to fully realise the US-India 123 Civil Nuclear Agreement by moving forward with plans to work together to build US-designed nuclear reactors in India through large-scale localisation and possible technology transfer. Both sides welcomed the recent Budget announcement by the Government of India to take up amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA) for nuclear reactors and further decided to establish bilateral arrangements under CLNDA, that would address the issue of civil liability and facilitate the collaboration of Indian and US industry in the production and deployment of nuclear reactors.

Technology and Innovation

The leaders announced the launch of the US-India TRUST (“Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology”) initiative, which will catalyse government-to-government, academia and private sector collaboration to promote the application of critical and emerging technologies in areas like defence, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum, biotechnology, energy and space while encouraging the use of verified technology vendors and ensuring sensitive technologies are protected.

As a central pillar of the “TRUST” initiative, the leaders committed to work with US and Indian private industry to put forward a US-India Roadmap on Accelerating AI Infrastructure by the end of the year, identifying constraints to financing, building, powering, and connecting large-scale US-origin AI infrastructure in India with milestones and future actions.

Two nations will work together to enable industry partnerships and investments in next-generation data centres, cooperation on development and access to compute and processors for AI, innovations in AI models and building AI applications for solving societal challenges while addressing the protections and controls necessary to protect these technologies and reduce regulatory barriers.

The leaders announced the launch of INDUS Innovation, a new innovation bridge modelled after the successful INDUS-X platform, that will advance US-India industry and academic partnerships and foster investments in space, energy, and other emerging technologies to maintain US and India leadership in innovation and to meet the needs of the 21st century. The leaders also reinforced their commitment to the INDUS-X initiative, which facilitates partnerships between US and Indian defence companies, investors and universities to produce critical capability for our militaries, and welcomed the next summit in 2025.

Recognising the strategic importance of critical minerals for emerging technologies and advanced manufacturing, India and the US will accelerate collaboration in research and development and promote investment across the entire critical mineral value chain, as well as through the Mineral Security Partnership, of which both the US and India are members. Both countries have committed to intensifying efforts to deepen cooperation in the exploration, beneficiation, and processing as well as recycling technologies of critical minerals. To this end, the leaders announced the launch of the Strategic Mineral Recovery initiative, a new US-India program to recover and process critical minerals from heavy industries like aluminium, coal mining, oil and gas.

The leaders hailed 2025 as a pioneering year for US-India civil space cooperation, with plans for a NASA-ISRO effort through AXIOM to bring the first Indian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS), and early launch of the joint “NISAR” mission, the first of its kind to systematically map changes to the Earth’s surface using dual radars.

The leaders called for more collaboration in space exploration, including on long-duration human spaceflight missions, spaceflight safety and sharing of expertise and professional exchanges in emerging areas, including planetary protection.

The leaders underscored the value of deepening ties between the US and Indian scientific research communities, announcing a new partnership between the US National Science Foundation and the Indian Anusandhan National Research Foundation in researching critical and emerging technologies. This partnership builds on ongoing collaboration between the US National Science Foundation and several Indian science agencies to enable joint research in the areas of semiconductors, connected vehicles, machine learning, next-generation telecommunications, intelligent transportation systems, and future biomanufacturing.

The leaders determined that their governments redouble efforts to address export controls, enhance high-technology commerce, and reduce barriers to technology transfer between our two countries while addressing technology security.

Multilateral Cooperation

The leaders emphasised that a strong partnership between the US and India is crucial for ensuring a free, open, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. As partners in the Quad, they reiterated that this collaboration is founded on several key principles: the importance of ASEAN’s central role; adherence to international law and good governance; support for the safety and freedom of navigation, overflight, and other lawful uses of the seas; the promotion of unimpeded lawful commerce; and the encouragement of peaceful resolutions to maritime disputes in line with international law.

PM Modi looks forward to hosting President Trump in New Delhi for the Quad Leaders’ Summit, ahead of which the leaders will activate new Quad initiatives on shared airlift capacity to support civilian response to natural disasters and maritime patrols to improve interoperability.

The leaders resolved to increase cooperation, enhance diplomatic consultations, and increase tangible collaboration with partners in the Middle East. The leaders plan to convene partners from the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor and the I2U2 Group within the next six months to announce new initiatives in 2025.

The US appreciates India’s role as a developmental, humanitarian assistance and net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region. In this context, the leaders committed to deepening bilateral dialogue and cooperation across the vast Indian Ocean region and launched the Indian Ocean Strategic Venture, a new bilateral, whole-of-government forum to advance coordinated investments in economic connectivity and commerce.

Supporting greater Indian Ocean connectivity, the leaders also welcomed Meta’s announcement of a multi-billion, multi-year investment in an undersea cable project that will begin work this year and ultimately stretch over 50,000 km to connect five continents and strengthen global digital highways in the Indian Ocean region and beyond. India intends to invest in the maintenance, repair and financing of undersea cables in the Indian Ocean, using trusted vendors.

The leaders recognised the need to build new plurilateral anchor partnerships in the Western Indian Ocean, Middle East, and Indo-Pacific to grow relationships, commerce and cooperation across defence, technology, energy and critical minerals.

The leaders also resolved to advance military cooperation in multinational settings to advance global peace and security. The leaders applauded India’s decision to take on a future leadership role in the Combined Maritime Forces naval task force to help secure sea lanes in the Arabian Sea.

The leaders reaffirmed that the global scourge of terrorism must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated from every corner of the world. They committed to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qa’ida, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021.

Recognising a shared desire to bring to justice those who would harm our citizens, the US announced that the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved.

The leaders further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks. The leaders also pledged to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons to terrorists and non-state actors.

People to People Cooperation

US President Trump and PM Modi noted the importance of advancing the people-to-people ties between the two countries. They noted that more than 3,00,000 strong Indian student communities contribute over $8 billion annually to the US economy and helped create several direct and indirect jobs.

They recognised that the talent flow and movement of students, researchers and employees, has mutually benefitted both countries.

Both leaders emphasised that the evolution of the world into a global workplace calls for putting in place innovative, mutually advantageous and secure mobility frameworks.

The leaders also committed to strengthening law enforcement cooperation to take decisive action against illegal immigration networks, organised crime syndicates, including narco-terrorists human and arms traffickers, as well as other elements who threaten public and diplomatic safety and security, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both nations.

US President Trump and PM Modi committed to maintaining strong engagement between our governments, industries, and academic institutions. They aim to achieve an enduring partnership between India and the US that meets the aspirations of both nations for a bright and prosperous future, contributes to the global good, and supports a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

International News

Rahul Gandhi begins 4-nation South American visit

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New Delhi, Sep 27: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has embarked on a South American tour, during which he is scheduled to interact with political leaders, university students, and members of the business community across four nations.

The Congress media and publicity department, incharge, Pawan Khera, announced the development on Saturday but refrained from disclosing the names of the countries LoP Gandhi will be visiting.

In a post on X, Khera wrote, “Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Shri Rahul Gandhi, has embarked on a visit to South America. He is scheduled to engage with political leaders, university students, and members of the business community across four countries.”

According to the party, this marks LoP Gandhi’s first overseas visit in September and will deepen democratic, trade, and strategic ties, building on historical India–South America cooperation and Global South solidarity.

During his visit to Brazil and Colombia, LoP Gandhi is expected to interact with university students, hold meetings with presidents and senior leaders across multiple countries, strengthening democratic and strategic ties, the party said.

He is also expected to engage with business leaders to explore opportunities as India seeks to diversify trade and partnerships in the wake of US tariffs, it also said.

Earlier this month, he travelled to Malaysia, although the Congress had not issued an official statement regarding that trip. The visit sparked several questions and also drew criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP took a dig at his foreign trips and BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya shared a photograph of Gandhi, claiming that he was vacationing in Malaysia.

Taking to X, Malviya posted, “Rahul Gandhi has slipped away yet again — this time on a clandestine vacation in Langkawi, Malaysia. Looks like the heat and dust of Bihar’s politics was too much for the Congress ‘Yuvraj’, who had to rush off for a break. Or is it another one of those secret meetings that no one is supposed to know about?”

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Pakistan a US ally, at White House convenience

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New Delhi, Sep 26: Pakistan has historically been considered an ally of the United States – during and after the Cold War – with Islamabad ready to execute at White House bidding, either for a prize or a dressing down.

Geographically, Pakistan occupies a strategic position and diplomatically shares ties with China on the one hand, and the Arab countries on the other. With most governments in Islamabad being financially and morally bankrupt and powerless against their military, the rulers have been ductile and malleable to be coerced into most deals.

Knowing that proximity to China, India, and Afghanistan makes it a key player in South Asian geopolitics, the US is also aware that with growing ties with Saudi Arabia, including the recent mutual defence pact, it can be a reason for its neighbours and partners being wary.

Washington continues to view Pakistan as a strategic partner in regional security, particularly in counterterrorism efforts. Its role in conducting covert operations from Pakistani soil against the then Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan is no secret anymore. All these, and more, which US President Donald Trump considers to be of use to his idea of ‘Make America Great Again’, draw interest to the country. Thus, a new trade agreement was signed, including a 19 per cent tariff on Pakistani imports and US involvement in developing Pakistan’s oil reserves.

Islamabad is looking at further US investments, especially in its mineral sector, which could provide a much-needed economic boost, provide jobs and infrastructure development for the beleaguered nation. Pakistan is thus trying to ignite US interest in the challenging geopolitical areas where even its military has been unable to put down the rebellion.

The US State Department has designated “The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its alias, The Majeed Brigade, as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO), and added the Majeed Brigade as an alias to BLA’s previous Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) designation” in a statement on August 11.

The restive westernmost province of Balochistan holds a wide reserve of gold, silver, copper, iron, chromite, and lithium across 1,600 mines. The northern regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are said to be sitting on lithium reserves, while the Thar coalfield in Sindh, with 175 billion tons of lignite, further underscores the overall mineral reserve potential.

The US is interested in Pakistan’s rare earth minerals, crypto mining potential, and broader investment opportunities. But revolt by tribes in these areas and without a clear governance policy, the reserves remain mostly untapped. Islamabad anticipates taming the fierce uprising with US help. Thus, apart from interests in geopolitical developments, Pakistan General Asim Munir’s frequent invitations to the White House remain a matter of speculation.

Munir, who had previously been hosted for lunch by Trump a few weeks earlier, accompanied Shehbaz Sharif on the Pakistan Prime Minister’s first official visit to the White House on Friday. While the General’s presence reflected Rawalpindi’s influence over the political masters in Islamabad, there is an assumption that a solution for mining in troubled areas may have also been put on the table.

Meanwhile, reports from Washington hinted at President Trump making his guests wait about 30 minutes before hosting them for talks. That made sure that even a high-level delegation from Pakistan realised that they can not assume themselves too important.

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International News

He is a very unorthodox thinker: Gavaskar praises Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy decisions

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Dubai, Sep 20: India’s cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar praised T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav for the decisions he took during the recently concluded Asia Cup 2025 clash against Oman. Suryakumar led India to their third consecutive win in the tournament as the Men in Blue move to the Super Fours stage unbeaten.

In the team’s third and final group stage game against Oman on Friday, Suryakumar decided not to walk out to bat during India’s innings as they opted to bat first. All other 10 players of the playing XI got game time with the bat as the skipper demoted him to No. 11.

Many experts and pundits criticised the move, but Gavaskar believed it to be a sensible decision. Speaking on Sony Sports Network, the former India captain said:

“If he had batted for even one over, he could have hit a few fours and sixes, and that would have been good for him. But the way he batted against Pakistan, maybe he does not need batting practice. He may have thought that Kuldeep Yadav’s batting could come in handy if India lose quick wickets in one of the matches. Perhaps that’s why he may have sent Kuldeep in to bat.”

Calling the 35-year-old Mumbai batter an ‘innovative thinker,’ Gavaskar added: “He is a very unorthodox thinker. We saw in Sri Lanka that he himself bowled and also gave Rinku Singh the ball. He turned the game, which seemed to have slipped away, on its head and won India the match. He is an innovative thinker. Maybe that’s why he did not bat and sent in Kuldeep and Arshdeep Singh.”

Notably, India defeated Oman by 21 runs to make it three wins in a row.

The group stage of the Asia Cup concluded with the Men in Blue’s match against Oman on Friday, with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan moving to the Super Fours.

Six games will be played in the second stage of the tournament. Every team will play the other three opponents once, and the sides finishing in the top two of the points table will progress to the summit clash.

India will commence their Super Fours campaign with a match against arch-rivals Pakistan on Saturday, 21 September, followed by games against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on 24 and 26 September, respectively.

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