India and Trump are getting along well, and Modi wants to keep it that way.

India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is demonstrating a willingness to compromise before his upcoming meeting with President Trump, who he is known for his friendly relationship.This includes lowering tariffs and taking in people who have been deported.

India, which is the biggest democracy in the world, is in a pretty good situation going into Trump’s second term. Trump and Modi, India’s Hindu nationalist leader for more than a decade, share similar views and have known each other for a long time. India has become a crucial U.S. ally in the fight against China, according to Milan Vaishnav, a senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The Indian government has made sure that everything is fine.

Modi is only the fourth foreign leader since Trump’s election to visit him. He joined the leaders of Israel, Japan, and Jordan. Vaishnav said this shows how important India is to the U.S.

But India could be hurt by two problems that Trump has made very important: tariffs and immigration. It has the fifth-largest economy in the world and a rising trade surplus with the US. It also brings in more undocumented immigrants than any other country outside of Latin America.

On average, Indian tariffs on imported goods were 11.5% in 2022, while in the US they were only 1.5%. Trump has called India a “tariff king” and a “big abuser” of trade links.

Trump threatens harsh tariffs on US allies, while Modi offers tax reductions on Harley-Davidson and acceptance of deported Indians to escape tariffs. India is willing to negotiate concessions in both interests.

I like India and Modi. Trump became interested in them during his first term, and the two leaders became close and didn’t hide it.

In 2019, they shook hands in front of tens of thousands of Indian Americans at a gathering in Houston called “Howdy, Modi!” A year later, the American president got a very warm welcome in India at a “Namaste Trump” gathering in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, which was attended by thousands of people.

Modi and Trump share similar worldviews, viewing China and radical Islam as threats, hate liberal media, and make foreign policy decisions based on self-interest.
Vaishnav said that the fact that they were close might help them in the talks.

“Believe it or not, these are the things that make a lot of people like Trump,” Vaishnav said. “That personal relationship is important to me,” she said.

Many people blamed the economy for Modi’s loss of his outright parliamentary majority in last year’s election. He wants to make deals with the U.S., which is one of India’s biggest trade partners.

India buys more weapons than any other country. Modi and Trump talked about this on a call last month, and Trump stressed the value of having “a fair bilateral trading relationship,” according to a White House statement. India may agree to buy more U.S. defense equipment.

Energy is also expected to be on the agenda, and Modi may agree to buy more crude oil and liquefied natural gas from the United States. In 2021, India, which tries to stay out of major international conflicts, was the biggest market for U.S. crude oil exports. Since then, though, it has bought more Russian oil that is highly discounted because of Russia’s war in Ukraine, which is against international law.

This week, Modi also met with Vice President JD Vance outside of an AI conference in Paris. The White House says that they talked about the possibility of India investing in U.S. nuclear technology.

Modi wants to avoid taxes and also get investment from U.S. companies, like Tesla and other tech and electric car companies.

He might also ask for help with two U.S. legal cases: the fraud and bribery charges against Modi supporter and billionaire Gautam Adani; and the indictment of a former Indian government worker who is accused of planning the attack on a Sikh separatist leader in New York.

Immigration, both legal and illegal, could be a source of trouble. A study by the Pew Research Center found that India brings in the third most illegal immigrants in the U.S., after Mexico and El Salvador.

104 Indian migrants were on a U.S. military plane that landed in a city in northern India last week. It was the first flight of its kind to India since Trump began his crackdown on illegal immigration.

Lawmakers from the opposition protested what they saw as bad treatment of the Indians who were deported. Some of them held signs outside of Parliament in New Delhi that said “Indians insulted.”

Rahul Gandhi argues Indians deserve dignity and humanity, while Modi’s foreign minister, S. Jaishankar, states nations are obliged to return their citizens living illegally abroad.

Vaishnav said it’s likely that the planes will go on. But he added, “I think we will see an improvement in terms of the looks.”

Modi is also likely to push for more H-1B visas, which bring skilled foreign workers to the U.S. tech industry. The government gives 75% of these visas to Indian citizens. The issue has already split two groups of Trump advisers who don’t agree with each other: tech boosters and immigration hardliners.