The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said it had no update to offer regarding reports that US President Donald Trump might visit India next year.
During the ministry’s weekly press briefing, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters, “As far as the comments of President Trump regarding his visit to India are concerned, I do not have anything on this to share. I will let you know when I have something to share about it."
His remarks followed Trump’s statement a day earlier, in which the US President suggested he could travel to India in 2026 and mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had invited him. Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump described Modi as a “great man” and a “friend.”
“He's (PM Modi) a friend of mine, and we speak... He wants me to go there. We'll figure that out. I'll go. I will have a great trip there with Prime Minister Modi, he’s a great man. And I'll be going,” Trump said at the Oval Office on Thursday in response to a question. When asked if he is planning to go to India next year, Trump said, “It could be, yeah.” India will host leaders from Australia, Japan, and the United States for the Quad summit in New Delhi after the 2024 summit was held in Wilmington, Delaware.
Meanwhile, President Trump once again claimed that India has stopped buying from Russia.
"It’s great, going good. He (PM Modi) stopped... Largely he stopped buying oil from Russia,” Trump said in response to a question on how talks with Modi and trade discussions with India are progressing. Trump imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 per cent levies for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50 per cent.
India had described the US action as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable" while maintaining that its energy policy is guided by its own national interest.
In his remarks before the press, Trump also reiterated his claim that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan in May using trade.
“Of the eight wars I ended, I would say five or six were ended because of tariffs. I'll give you an example. If you take a look at India and Pakistan, they started to fight, they are two nuclear nations... They were shooting each other. Eight planes were shot down. It was seven. Now it is eight, because the one that was sort of shot down is now abandoned. Eight planes were shot down.
“And I said, 'Listen, if you guys are going to fight, I'm gonna put tariffs on you’. And they both went, you know, they were not happy about that. And within 24 hours, I settled the war. If I didn't have tariffs, I wouldn't have been able to settle that war,” Trump said.
The president also termed tariffs a "great national defence".
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire" after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between the two neighbouring countries.
India has consistently denied any third-party intervention.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
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