Trump says India trade deal ‘very close’, hails Modi as ‘tough’

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France – US President Donald Trump lauded Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that Washington and New Delhi were “very close” to finalising a long-awaited trade agreement.

“We’ve been there for a little while and he’s a very tough negotiator, one of the toughest, actually,” Trump said on June 17 when asked about the status of the negotiations while meeting with Modi on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in France.

Trump said Modi has “been my friend for a long time now” but added that while Modi looks “like an angel, but actually, he’s as tough as a killer”.

The US president said he would visit India at some point, but did not specify the date.

The face-to-face meeting marked the latest effort by the two countries to repair frayed relations after a year of tensions over US tariffs, Pakistan and more recently the war in Iran.

Trump and Modi have not held in-person talks since the Indian prime minister’s White House visit in early 2025.

The sit-down comes at a fraught moment for Washington and New Delhi, following a recent US attack on Indian-crewed vessels in the Gulf of Oman region, which left at least three sailors dead and drew a rebuke from India. The ships were targeted as part of a US blockade of vessels sailing to and from Iranian ports.

Modi, who was criticised by his political opponents for not publicly condemning the US’s actions, raised the issue in his remarks to Trump at a press briefing on June 17.

“We have always said that freedom of navigation should be ensured,” the prime minister said. Thousands of Indian seafarers “are on duty on the world’s seas in the maritime trade sector. I believe that their security is equally important,” he said.

With the US-Iran peace deal, Modi said he was confident that the “security of seafarers will be ensured and prioritised”.

While Trump and Modi regularly praise each other in public, relations between their countries soured in 2025 following brief military clashes between India and Pakistan. Trump repeatedly claimed credit for brokering a ceasefire, a claim that New Delhi has vehemently denied. Trump has since fostered close personal ties with Pakistan’s leadership – in particular with military chief Asim Munir, who emerged as the unofficial mediator in peace talks between Washington and Tehran.

When asked about US-India defence ties, Trump said it was a “great relationship” and although the two countries do not have a direct contract, the US would back India if it was attacked.

“If they were attacked, we would be there to help them,” he said. Pointing to Modi, he added: “If anybody attacks that man, we’re going to be there” but “if there’s a new leader, I’m not sure about that”.

Efforts to smooth over relations between the US and India have ramped up since US Ambassador Sergio Gor – a close Trump aide - arrived in India in January. In May, Trump dispatched Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a multi-day visit to India, where he met with multiple Indian officials and with envoys from Japan and Australia as part of the security grouping known as the Quad.

The US and India are now in the midst of hashing out the details of an interim trade pact, which was agreed upon in February. The deal was initially set to be signed in March, but was delayed following a US Supreme Court ruling that struck down Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs. Under the proposed arrangement, Indian exports would have been subject to an 18 per cent tariff, compared with the 50 per cent rate announced in 2025.

Indian and US trade negotiators have met twice since March, including in Washington in April and during a four-day meeting in June in New Delhi, to resolve outstanding issues. Indian officials maintain that finalising the deal is unlikely until the outcome of two so-called Section 301 trade probes the US is conducting to lay the groundwork for more levies on numerous trading partners. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is scheduled to visit India later in June to push the talks forward. BLOOMBERG