Prime minister Narendra Modi’s recently concluded a two-day visit to the US following an invitation from president Donald Trump. The historic meeting between the two leaders continues to reverberate in public discourses in India. The prime reason is: The visit took place within weeks of Trump’s assumption of office in his second term.

Besides, Modi was the fourth international leader after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba and Jordan king Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, to be invited by Trump soon after his inauguration as the 47th president of the US.

Yet making the public discourse on Modi’s US visit sharper and splendidly interesting is India and USA's decision to deepen their cooperation on issues ranging from trade and economic engagement to technology, energy security, defence and security cooperation and people-to-people linkages.
 
And all this, on the pitch of “MEGA Partnership for Prosperity”, a guiding vision which was intelligently crafted by Modi by combining Trump’s motto of “MAGA” (Make America Great Again) and India’s aspiration of “Viksit Bharat 2047” which translates to “Make India Great Again (MIGA).”

All in all, “this was an extremely substantive and productive visit,” foreign secretary Vikram Misri later told the press, highlighting that despite being short, the visit allowed the two leaders to renew their contacts with both sides lending greater confidence to partnership between India and the US.

Outcomes of the visit

Trade and Investment:
Modi and Trump decided to accelerate the pace of trade and investment between the two countries. For instance, they launched Mission 500 with the aim to double their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030 and reaffirmed their commitment to make green field investments in high-value industries.

Defence partnership
The two leaders announced plans to sign a new 10-year framework for defence partnership between the two countries. Marking a major step in defence cooperation, the two sides agreed for the integration of US-origin defence platforms into India’s military, including aircraft like C-130 J Super Hercules and P-81 Poseidon.

Procurement and co-production of ‘Javelin’ Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, ‘Stryker’ Infantry Combat Vehicles and six additional P-81 Maritime Patrol aircraft to boost India’s maritime surveillance are also on cards. It was agreed to co-design and co-produce advanced defence equipment in India. The US president offered the 5th generation stealth fighter F-35, but any final decision on this will be taken by India after due deliberations and evaluating various criteria, including cost and other technical issues. However, the two countries, imparting a boost to their ongoing defence partnership, decided to elevate military cooperation across all domains – air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace – through enhanced training, exercises and operations, incorporating the latest technologies. They agreed that the forthcoming ‘Tiger Triumph’ tri-service exercise, to be hosted by India, will be conducted on a larger scale with increased complexity.

Energy security
Marking a significant move on the energy front, both leaders agreed to “fully realise” the US-India 123 Civil Nuclear Agreement – all this, two decades after it was signed. They committed to work together to build US designed nuclear reactors in India through large-scale localization and possible technology transfer.  

On the oil and gas front, the two leaders re-committed to the US-India Energy Security Partnership. India already imports $15 billion worth of oil and gas from the US per year.

Technology and Innovation
They unveiled the US-India TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology) initiative, with aim to drive collaboration between governments, academia, and the private sector in areas like defence, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology, energy, and space, while promoting the use of trusted technology vendors and safeguarding sensitive technologies.
 
In the area of Artificial Intelligence, as per Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri, both countries committed to conclude a US-India roadmap on accelerating AI infrastructure by the end of the year. They launched Indus Innovation---a new innovation initiative which is modelled after INDUS-X platform for defence applications. It will be meant for space, energy and other emerging technologies.

Quad and Indo-Pacific
Modi and Trump reaffirmed growing strategic alignment between the two countries, which is central to a free, open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific. On the Quad, both leaders emphasised their shared vision. India will be hosting the Quad summit later this year.  The two leaders also committed to enhancing collaboration with partners in West Asia. They also decided to convene a meeting of partners to chalk out a strategy for the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor and I2U2 Group within the next six months.

Counter-Terrorism
Trump announced the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the Pakistan-backed terror attack in Mumbai in November 2008 in which over 160 people were killed, including some US nationals. Besides, India and the US agreed to push back against cross-border terrorism and act against activities of JeM, LeT, ISIS and Al Qaeda to prevent heinous acts like the Mumbai terrorist attack and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021.

Conclusion
Although PM Modi’s two-day visit to the US is considered highly successful, it took place when relations between the two countries were under strain due to some overt political and diplomatic interference in India’s internal matters by American authorities under the previous US administration.

Therefore, it was essential to restore confidence between the two sides and PM Modi and President Trump with their meeting sought to infuse fresh dynamism and robustness in India-US bilateral relationship. Additionally, Modi showed that frank and intense negotiations on trade, tariff, defence procurement and energy would turn into mutually beneficial win-win solutions for the two countries. Overall, the visit marked a significant step in deepening cooperation and partnership between the two democratic behemoths of the world.