Within three weeks of the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump for a second non-consecutive term, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was invited to the White House for an official working visit. This much anticipated trip occurred amidst a global effort to understand some sweeping changes afoot in U.S. policy, many of which were sign-posted throughout Trump’s campaign. Among these were challenges and opportunities that India too had anticipated and readied itself for. However, while Europe grapples with an American reworking of the trans-Atlantic relationship, the Indo-U.S. relationship has been largely marked with positivity. Prime Minister Modi’s recent visit to the United States indicated New Delhi’s careful management of expected challenges while expending effort to extend the progress that symbolized Indo-U.S. ties during Trump’s first term. However, a lack of adequate strategic trust remains, at least in defense cooperation.

Resolve in Mutual Intent

Significant actions by Washington and New Delhi before and during Modi’s trip indicate that both sides are looking to build a future forward relationship despite differences in some areas.

The principal concern with the Trump administration was his promise to end “unfair” tariffs on U.S. exports by imposing reciprocal tariffs on offending states. New Delhi in particular was in his cross-hairs, with Trump having called India the “tariff king” during his campaign and reiterating his commitment to put strong reciprocal tariffs on the country even after his meeting with Modi. However, the specific issue of tariffs in Indo-U.S. ties is an old one, which both have learnt to silo while advancing the broader bilateral relationship in other sectors. In 2019, for instance, a few hours before PM Modi’s visit to Washington, Trump had charged that India was having a “field day putting tariffs on American products,” which was “no longer acceptable.” Even though Trump ended India’s preferential trade treatment that year and both states exchanged rounds of imposing reciprocal tariffs on each other, it did not adversely impact the strong positive trajectory of the bilateral overall and the Modi-Trump relationship in particular.

The joint statement…reflected both states’ intention to undertake striking changes in their domestic legal frameworks to break new ground in two specific sectors—defense trade and civil nuclear cooperation

This time, New Delhi cushioned some of the expected impact by promptly slashing tariffs on at least 30 items imported from the United States on the eve of the visit, to ensure that it was sending an unmistakable signal of commitment to Trump. Tariffs on bourbon for instance were slashed from 150 percent to 50 percent as recently as February 13, while PM Modi was in Washington, despite

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