Transcript of Special briefing by MEA on Prime Minister's visit to USA (February 13, 2025)
India - Ministry of External Affairs
February 13, 2025
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining us for this press briefing on Prime Minister's visit to the United States. We have with us Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri to brief us on this Prime Minister's visit. We're also joined by Ambassador of India to the United States, Shri Vinay Kwatra, as also by Shri Nagaraj Naidu, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. With that, I invite Foreign Secretary to begin his opening remarks. Sir, over to you.
Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary of India: Thank you, Randhir. Good evening, all, and thank you for waiting. I know it is past the appointed time, but Prime Minister has just concluded a very substantive and productive visit to the United States at the invitation of President Donald Trump. As you all know, this is Prime Minister's first visit to the United States after the inauguration of President Trump for a second term. And as I had mentioned earlier as well, the fact that this visit is taking place within just three weeks and a bit of the inauguration is a signal of the priority that both leaders attach to the India-U.S. relationship. Prime Minister arrived in Washington, D.C. yesterday evening. He was hosted at Blair House, and he had a number of engagements on arrival yesterday. The newly confirmed Director of National Intelligence, Ms. Tulsi Gabbard, paid a call on the Prime Minister. This morning, the Prime Minister received Mr. Elon Musk and Mr. Vivek Ramaswamy as well.
The discussions at the White House began this afternoon and went on for nearly four hours comprising discussions in a restricted format, in the press conference, and an extended discussion over dinner with larger delegations. The discussions covered a lot of ground. The entire gamut of the relationship ranging from strategic and security cooperation, defense, trade and economic engagement, technology, energy security and people-to-people linkages, as well as regional and global issues of concern were dealt with.
There is a joint statement that has been issued. I think it is not yet available online so let me take you through some of the key aspects of the joint statement but I would urge you to go through the joint statement in some detail because it is a really rich and substantive statement, and lays down the blueprint for the near and medium term future of the India-US relationship. The two leaders jointly launched the US-India compact for the 21st century. This compact stands for catalysing opportunities in military partnership, accelerated commerce and technology. In the area of trade and investment, for instance, the leaders launched mission 500 aiming to more than double total two-way trade to $500 billion by 2030.
The two leaders also announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial multi-sector bilateral trade agreement by the fall of 2025 towards advancing this process. This issue did figure in some detail in the discussions as well. Both countries will take an integrated approach to strengthen bilateral trade across the goods and services sector. This will include themes such as increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers and deepening supply chain integration between the two countries.
There is also renewed commitment to making green field investments in high value industries in each other's countries and you will see in the joint statement references to investments in excess of $7 billion made by Indian companies, such as, Novelis, Jindal Steelworks and Jubilant and Epsilon.
Defense as was pointed out by both leaders remains a very important area of cooperation in the strategic partnership between the two countries. The leaders announced plans to finalize a new 10-year framework for the US-India major defense partnership in the 21st century. This is a framework that will run from 2025 to 2035 and is expected to be finalized later this year. They also agreed to move forward on ongoing defence procurement negotiations for a number of platforms including land and air systems as well as co-production agreements. There was also agreement to initiate discussions on the reciprocal defence procurement agreement. One of the striking aspects of the joint statement in this regard is a process that the United States will begin whereby it will review its arms transfer regulations including the international traffic in arms regulations in order to streamline defence trade, technology exchange and maintenance, spare supplies and in-country repair and overhaul of US-provided defence systems. The two countries have also launched the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance to scale industry partnerships and production of autonomous systems which will foster next generation defence and technological collaboration, specifically in the field of underwater domain awareness.
You're also aware that for the last several years, technology has become a motive of the India-US partnership and the two leaders in this latest round of discussions committed to taking forward cooperation in critical and emerging technologies by launching the US-India TRUST Initiative. The TRUST Initiative stands for Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology. This initiative will catalyse collaboration among governments, academia and the private sector to drive innovation in defence, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology, energy and space.
Artificial intelligence is on everybody's mind. We just had the AI Action Summit in Paris which the Prime Minister had co-chaired. And in today's discussions, the leaders committed to bring Indian and US private industry together and conclude a US-India roadmap on accelerating AI infrastructure by the end of the year. Both the countries will work together to enable industry partnerships and investments in next generation data centers on access to compute and processors for artificial intelligence.
The two leaders launched Indus Innovation, a new innovation bridge that is modelled after the successful IndusX platform for defence applications. Indus Innovation is meant to focus on space, on energy and other emerging technologies.
A new US-India cooperative programme to recover and process critical minerals, a strategic mineral recovery initiative has also been launched. Under the TRUST Initiative, incidentally, the two sides will also address export controls, enhance high technology commerce and reduce barriers to technology transfer between the two countries.
In the energy area, this is a subject that has remained in focus in the bilateral relationship in the recent years. India is a significant buyer of U.S. energy and today's discussions covered a lot of ground on this particular subject. And in order to ensure energy security, the two countries agreed to work together on the production of hydrocarbons and for commerce in hydrocarbons, to support global energy price stability, and secure affordable energy access.
In addition, there was agreement to realize the potential in the area of civil nuclear energy, building U.S. designed nuclear reactors in India and taking forward that process also through large-scale localization as well as technology transfer. And of course the two countries have been discussing for some time cooperation in small modular reactors and that is again something that was flagged today.
The obstacles in realizing this cooperation in previous years on account of some of the legal provisions that have remained in place in India have already begun to be addressed. You would have noticed the announcements that have been made in the budget in this regard, and we imagine that progress on these issues will enable us to realize the promise of cooperation between India and the United States in this very important sector.
A new partnership has been launched between the U.S. National Science Foundation and the brand new Indian Anusandhan, which is the National Research Foundation for deepening research linkages in critical and emerging technologies. There is an MOU that was signed between the NSF and the ANRF just a couple of days back to take forward this cooperation.
On the people-to-people front, finally, you're aware there are nearly 300,000 Indian students studying in the United States and the contribution of these students, especially to the U.S. economy, was acknowledged in the joint statement.
The leaders agreed to strengthen collaboration between higher education institutions of the two countries and India invited the United States to take advantage of the reforms in the Indian education sector to set up offshore campuses of premier educational institutions of the U.S. in India.
They also committed to streamline avenues for legal mobility of students and professionals and facilitating short-term tourist and business travel while at the same time committing to aggressively addressing and tackling illegal immigration and human trafficking.
I would also invite your attention to the parts of the joint statement where you can see a commitment from both sides to take decisive action against elements who threaten public and diplomatic safety and security and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both nations. There's a commitment to strengthening law enforcement cooperation in this regard and this is especially significant from our perspective given some events that have taken place.
Last point relates to the deepening strategic convergences between the two countries on regional and global issues and this is something that came through clearly in the discussions today between the Prime Minister and President Trump. Whether it is the shared vision for the Quad, India will be hosting the Quad summit later this year and the Prime Minister has extended an invitation to President Trump for that, or the commitment to increasing our collaboration with partners in West Asia or in enhancing cooperation in the Indian Ocean region.
The two leaders agreed to convene partners under the IMEC initiative as well as the I2U2 construct within the next six months to announce new initiatives. They also launched the Indian Ocean Strategic Venture, a new bilateral forum to advance coordinated investments in connectivity and commerce in this region.
All in all, I would say that though short, this was an extremely substantive and productive visit. It allowed two leaders who know each other well, who are comfortable with each other, to renew their contacts from President Trump's first term and to commit themselves to greater things in the relationship. The mood in the room today and the overall environment of the meetings today lent great confidence to both sides that the relationship is on a solid footing and there is much to achieve in the coming months and years.
Let me stop there and take a few questions.
Yoshita Singh, Press Trust of India: Thank you, Yoshita Singh with Press Trust of India. On the issue of the deportation of illegal immigrants, was that issue raised the way they were brought to India in the military aircraft and shackled? And what was the Trump administration's response on that? And also, on Tahawwur Rana, is there a time frame or timeline by when he will be extradited to India? Thank you.
Speaker1: [Indiscernible] Thank you so much. Sir, mera question nahi hai, this is a concern for both the countries. Vartaman paristhiti me, jaise humne dekha ki U.S. immigration policy me ek bada parivartan aaya, toh India ne sabse pehle swagat kiya ki agar woh hamare logon ko deport karte hain, jo illegal tareeke se yahan aaye hain, toh unko hum wapas lene ke liye tayyar hain. In this situation agar kabhi aane wale samay me—kyunki ab to meeting ho chuki hai aur aur bhi baatein chalti rahengi—agar hum America me dekhein toh yahan jo farmers hain, woh zyadatar California me Sikh farmer hain, Indian farmers hain. Aur jo yahan ki trucking industry hai, woh dominate karti hain by Sikhs aur Punjabis. Toh in dono jagahon par present situation me bahut zaroorat hogi America ko jo agar wahan se India se hum legal way nahi bhej sakte ho seasonal labor jo hain waha se trucking industry and related to farmers. To waha se agar yeh possible ho sake do no desh apas me baat kare, that will be win-win situation for both the countries. Thank you so much.
[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Thank you so much. Sir, this is not my question; this is a concern for both countries. In the present situation, as we saw a major shift in U.S. immigration policy, India was the first to welcome the decision that if they deport our people who have come here illegally, we are ready to take them back. In this situation, if at any time in the future—since the meeting has already taken place and more discussions will continue—if we look at America, most of the farmers there, especially in California, are Sikh farmers, Indian farmers. And the trucking industry there is dominated by Sikhs and Punjabis. So, in both these sectors, in the present situation, America will need a workforce. If we can send seasonal labor legally from India for the trucking industry and farming sector, then if it is possible for both countries to discuss this matter, it will be a win-win situation for both nations. Thank you so much.
Parikshit: Foreign Secretary, we saw how President Trump said that U.S. is going to increase military sales to India by billions of dollars this year, also paving the way for sale of F-35s to India eventually. Have you agreed to purchase F-35s from America?
Vishnudatta Jayaraman, South Asian Herald: Good evening Foreign Secretary. This is Vishnu from Vishnudatta Jayaraman, South Asian Herald. What is the expected timeline for bilateral trade agreements between the two administrations that can pave a way to reduce the trade deficit and promote a fair and expanded trade partnership? The second question is, given the ongoing frictions on trade and tariffs, do you believe the Quad, I2U2, and IMEC will serve as a unifying factor between both administrations? Thank you.
Shubhendu Ghosh, DD News: Sir I am Shubhendu from DD India. How is India to interpret President Trump's statement on India's neighbourhood Bangladesh.
Vinay Kwatra, Ambassador of India to USA: Can you please repeat your question on Bangladesh?
Shubhendu Ghosh, DD News: Sir, how is India to interpret President Trump's statement on the situation in Bangladesh? He said that I leave it to the Prime Minister.
Speaker: How is India going to respond to President Trump's proposal that he could mediate between India and China over territorial disputes and skirmishes?
Shriram: President Trump spoke about reciprocal tariffs at the press conference. Is it your understanding that these will be on hold until the trade deal with the US is negotiated? That's question one. Secondly, he mentioned reducing the deficit through energy purchases. Is India taking this literally or as an encouragement to purchase more energy from the United States? Thank you.
Geeta: President Trump on extradition said that Tahawwur Rana will be extradited but there are more to follow because there are many requests from India. Could you just tell us what are the requests from India? Are there any more names that you have given to the Americans?
Manish Jha, TV9 Bharatvarsh: Sir main Manish Jha hoon TV9 Bharatvarsh se. President Trump udaharan de rahe the ki bahot se jo American products hain us par 30%-40% se lekar 70% tak tariff hain, unhone American car ka hawala diya. Toh kya hum bharat ki taraf se is par koi justification diya gaya ya phir hum America ko koi riyayat dene ke liye ja rahe hain?
[Approximate Translation: Question in Hindi] Sir, I am Manish Jha from TV9 Bharatvarsh. President Trump was giving an example that many American products facing tariffs ranging from 30%-40% to even 70%. He specifically mentioned American cars. So, has India provided any justification for this, or are we considering offering any concessions to the U.S.?
Chidanand Rajghatta, Times of India: Chidanand Rajghatta, Times of India: FS, can you give us a sense of what you thought of a very discordant note throughout the day President Trump struck on the tariff issue. He mentioned it several times and also his smackdown on BRICS. He also kind of said something to the effect of BRICS is dead or dying.
Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary of India: Let me try and address, I think some of the questions and concerns are common. But in so far as the issue of illegal immigration is concerned, yes it did figure during the discussions today and the Prime Minister said, as I think he mentioned during the press conference as well during the discussions also, he said that India has made its stand very clear that if there are illegal immigrants proven to be Indian citizens in any country abroad we will take them back. But he did emphasize and again I think he referred to this in his remarks at the press conference but even during the discussions he did emphasize that the return of illegal immigrants is not the end of the story. There is an ecosystem that thrives on this racket and that promotes and enables this racket and it is the responsibility of both countries to do something about this. And in that he sought the cooperation of the United States in finding out more details about these rackets and if need be through institutional cooperation between the law enforcement authorities and intelligence organizations of the two countries to actually try and do something about these ecosystems that enable this particular phenomenon. So this is something that the two sides will continue to discuss.
On Tahawwur Rana, I think I addressed this in an earlier press conference as well. This is an issue on which the US authorities have taken very clear decisions. I think you have seen the President announced it himself from the White House podium, the decision of the United States to extradite him, it is reflected there in the joint statement as well. We are working on the logistics of this, his surrender, and extradition to India. There are a few final steps to be completed, the two sides are in touch on this particular issue.
Aapka jo prashna tha, America ki jo immigration policy hai usko lekar aur jo yaha pe ek industry hai, trucking wagairah ko lekar, usme jo seasonal, kya usme seasonal labor istemal kiya ja sakta hai? Dekhiye, jahan tak yeh sawal hai ki yeh labor kis tarah aa sakta hai aur yeh America ki immigration policy ke saath kaise fit hota hai, yeh to America ki neetiyon ka sawal hai. Toh agar woh aisi neeti banaye aur hamare paas yeh gunjaish ho aise logon ko bhejne ki, toh usme koi aapatthi nahi honi chahiye, kyunki ek tarah se yeh legal mobility hogi.
Aur humne hamesha kaha hai ki hum legal mobility ke paksh mein hain. Hum illegal mobility ke khilaf hain. Lekin agar legal mobility hai, agar kisi desh ki koi neeti hai aur uss neeti ke tahat log waha par jaate hain, baqaida VISA lekar jaate hain ya work permit lekar jaate hain, toh usme koi aapatthi nahi honi chahiye. Toh aane wale samay mein agar aisi gunjaish hui, toh iske baare mein zarur dono deshon ke beech baatchit ki ja sakti hai.
[Approximate Translation: Answer in Hindi] Your question was regarding America's immigration policy and the trucking industry here, whether seasonal labor can be used in it. Look, as far as the question is concerned about how this labor can come and how it fits into America's immigration policy, that is a matter of America's policies. So, if they formulate such a policy and we have the scope to send such people, then there should be no objection because, in a way, this would be legal mobility.
And we have always said that we are in favor of legal mobility. We are against illegal mobility. However, if there is legal mobility, if a country has a policy and under that policy, people go there properly with a VISA or a work permit, then there should be no objection to it. So, in the future, if such a possibility arises, then discussions between the two countries can certainly take place on this matter.
Parikshit, on military sales to India, look there is a process by which platforms are acquired. You are well aware of that process. There is, in most cases, a request for proposals that is floated. There are responses to those. They are evaluated. I don't think with regard to the acquisition of an advanced aviation platform by India, that process has started as yet. So this is currently something that's at the stage of a proposal. But I don't think the formal process in this regard has started as yet.
With regard to the timeline for the bilateral trade agreements, well, this issue was discussed today. There is an understanding that we will try and do it as quickly as possible. I think there is a reference in the joint statement by fall of this year. So we are looking at the next seven to eight months to get this done. And today, in a sense, both teams have got the instructions or the indications from the highest levels to start engaging on this. And the work will begin as quickly as possible.
On addressing these possible frictions over trade through mechanisms such as I2U2, IMEC, and Quad, yes, to the extent that some of those forums will facilitate trade, even though none of them is really a trade agreement or a preferential trading arrangement, but to the extent that they can increase understanding between the various partners, they would certainly be helpful.
On what we make of the statement on Bangladesh, well, just to share with you that this was a subject that was discussed between the two leaders. And the Prime Minister shared his views and, indeed, his concerns with regard to recent developments in Bangladesh and how India sees the situation. I think we hope that the situation in Bangladesh will also move forward in a direction where we can pursue relations in a constructive and stable way with them. But there are concerns about that situation. And the Prime Minister shared those views with President Trump.
I think your question about the offer to mediate between India and China, I think, I suspect you know the answer to this question. We have, whatever issues we have with our, any of our neighbours, we have always adopted a bilateral approach to dealing with these issues. It's no different between India and China. We have been discussing any issues that we have with them on a bilateral plane, and we will continue to do so.
On reciprocal tariffs and what the fate will be, look, we have indicated, and the two leaders have agreed today to start discussing trade and tariff-related issues. So, I will let those discussions start before pronouncing on what may happen with regard to the plans that have been announced today by the U.S. administration.
On reducing deficit through energy purchases, well, I mean we are a significant purchaser of U.S. energy in any case. I think last year we purchased about $15 billion in U.S. energy output. There is a good chance that this figure will go up to as much as $25 billion in the near future, and so therefore we are a significant producer, and today's discussions did focus considerably on the possibility of more energy purchases, and it is entirely possible that these increased energy purchases will contribute to impacting the deficit between the two countries as well.
On extradition, yes, there are other requests as well. I won't go into the names immediately, but there are other requests that are registered with the U.S. authorities.
I think the other questions were also essentially on tariffs ,and I think Chiddu's question on tariffs being a discordant note. I would say that we have been hearing about tariffs for quite some time, and in today's discussion between the two sides, this issue came up quite normally in the talks between the two leaders. They both had their perspectives, but what is more remarkable or what is worth looking at is the fact that we have a way forward on this issue in terms of the undertaking to discuss or start discussions on a bilateral trading agreement and this may actually be a very good opportunity to take forward something and conclude something which was actually foreseen in the first Trump administration.
There was, you would recall, a trade deal that was on the anvil at that time. For various reasons, it did not go forward at that time. So therefore, in the current environment, we see these developments as an opportunity to take this issue forward and come to a mutually beneficial understanding about these particular issues.
I think that about takes care of all the questions. I literally have a plane to catch, therefore we will have to run.
Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Thank you very much.
Washington DC
February 13, 2025
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