US President Trump Likely to Visit India Next Year, Calls PM Modi His Friend, and a ‘Great Man’

US President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed that he is likely to visit India next year while praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and calling him a ‘great man’. 

According to a Bloomberg report, Trump said, “He’s a friend of mine, and we speak, and he wants me to go there, and we’ll figure that out, I’ll go.” This comes at a time when New Delhi and Washington are pushing hard to secure a trade deal following a series of tariff disputes that strained their bilateral relations.

He said that he ‘could be’ visiting India next year but did not give a specific timeline for his trip.

Further, while talking about ongoing trade negotiations, Trump mentioned that the talks were “going good.” He also said that Modi had reduced India’s oil imports from Russia, saying, “It’s great, going good. He stopped… largely, he stopped buying oil from Russia.” 

Back in April 2025, the US President imposed a 26 per cent “Liberation Day” tariff on India and over 100 other countries but paused it for 90 days giving affected nations time to strike new deals with the US. Even though, India and the US failed to finalise a deal within that window, Trump later announced a 25 per cent tariff on India with an additional 25 per cent duty linked to India’s Russian oil imports.

Trump has repeatedly stated that these measures were intended to discourage India’s purchase of Russian crude, which he argues fuels Moscow’s war in Ukraine. New Delhi has defended its purchases, citing energy security needs, and has not confirmed Trump’s claims of reduced dependence on Russian oil.

On the other hand, India is set to host leaders from Australia, Japan, and the US for the Quad summit in New Delhi, after the 2024 edition in Wilmington, Delaware. The dates for the 2025 summit are however yet to be announced. 

While addressing the media, the US President repeated his controversial claim of having “stopped the India-Pakistan conflict” earlier this year. He stated, “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 at each other.”

Trump further said that he warned both countries he would impose tariffs if hostilities continued. “Within 24 hours, I settled the war,” he claimed.

While Pakistan has publicly thanked Trump for his “intervention,” India has consistently denied any third-party mediation, saying the understanding to end hostilities was reached through direct bilateral talks.