Republican nominee and former US President Donald Trump said on September 17 that he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit that began on Saturday.
During a rally in Michigan, Trump –who is running again for the office of US President – criticised India as a ‘very big abuser’ in trade but described Modi as a 'fantastic man'. “He happens to be coming to meet me next week,” Trump said.
Modi left for a three-day visit to the United States on Saturday morning. During his visit, Modi will attend the Quad Leaders' Summit, address the 'Summit of the Future' at the United Nations General Assembly, and interact with the Indian diaspora.
Will Modi meet Trump? So far, the government has not confirmed Trump’s claim that Modi will meet him. On September 19, two days ahead of Modi’s visit, the Union ministry of external affairs (MEA) refused to confirm or deny the potential Modi-Trump meeting.
“There are many meetings with the prime minister right now which we are trying to fix,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Thursday, without ruling out a one-on-one discussion.
“I will not be able to tell you about any specific meeting, whether the meeting has been fixed or not,” he said, adding that Modi would have engagement with a host of business and industry leaders, amongst others.
Modi will be in the US from Saturday until Monday. As per his itinerary, Modi will take part in the sixth Quad Leaders' Summit in Wilmington, Delaware, which is being hosted by US President Joe Biden in his hometown on September 21 - the first day of PM's visit.
In 2019, the then US President Trump hosted PM Modi in Texas at an event attended by an estimated 50,000 people. A year later, Modi welcomed Trump in his home state Gujarat for an event which was attended by over 120,000 people.
Some experts said the timing of Trump meeting Modi would be awkward in the run-up to US Presidential elections in November.
Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Programme at the Wilson Centre think tank in Washington, told South China Morning Post that if Modi meets Trump, the timing of the visit would not only be awkward but also controversial because the elections in the US are just two months away. Also, Kugleman said, since there is nothing to suggest that Modi will meet with Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
“If he were to meet with Trump, and there were no meetings with Kamala Harris – regardless of what his motivations are for holding that meeting with Trump – there would be strong perceptions that he does have a preference,” Kugelman said.
Other experts, however, said that Trump-Modi meeting would not be an indication of Modi endorsing the Republican nominee.
Harris, 59, is the first-ever presidential candidate of Indian heritage contesting on Democratic ticket. Her mother is an Indian. As of today, there are roughly 5 million people of Indian descent in the United States, making them the largest Asian ethnic group and the second-largest immigrant group after Mexicans.
While Indian Americans vote for Democratic more than any other Asian group, roughly 20 per cent identify as Republican, as per reports.
