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Ahead of PM Modi's visit to the US, Director of South Asia Institute at Wilson Center, Michael Kugelman said that China was the main factor behind the strategic partnership between India and the US.
Kugelman further said that China would surely feature in the discussion between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump. Kugelman said, "China is really the factor that has really been the main glue that has brought this strategic partnership together. So, I imagine that this will be an issue that is addressed. That won't be the only issue that is addressed but when the two turn to foreign policy, I can't imagine this not being an issue," he said. "President Trump is someone who would want to really ramp up and intensify US efforts to one-up China, particularly when it comes to economic competition. So, I think that the two leaders will have a lot to talk about," he added. Kugelman also said that the discussion between PM Modi and Trump is important when it comes to Quad, as India will be hosting the next Leaders' Summit. "When it comes to Quad, this will be a very important issue to discuss because as you know, it's India's turn to host the next Leaders' Summit that will happen this year sometime. So, I suspect, that at some point during their meeting, PM Modi will invite President Trump to visit India and to participate in the Quad Summit and to have a bilateral exchange with PM Modi. I suspect that President Trump will accept the invitation and I think that will probably be one of the big storylines and one of the takeaways of this meeting that there is a good chance that Trump will go to India at some point this year," he said. Kugelman said that tariffs will also feature in the leaders' meeting. Although India has reduced tariffs on the US, Trump might pester PM Modi to reduce it further. He said, "I think that the Indian Government has done a very good job of minimising the likelihood that it could be put in an uncomfortable position about some of these issues which are quite sensitive. We have seen the Indian Government publically signalling its willingness to look into reducing tariffs, taking back undocumented Indians and also importing more oil from the US. These are all things that Trump wants other countries to be doing...But I think that there is a good chance that the President will ask India to do more reductions in tariffs and I imagine he will bring up the same issues but given that it will be very clear to him that India has been proactively pre-emptively taking steps to address some of these issues...I think it is very unlikely that Trump will direct demands of Modi and of the Indian Government. The partnership is in a very good place. Trump is a big fan of India. He is a big fan of partnership with India. So, he will, I think be very keen to maintain a positive tone for this visit of Modi." (ANI)
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