Modi, Trump review bilateral ties amid concerns over Russia sanctions

In their first telephone call since the United States (U.S.) Congress passed the new Russian sanctions law, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he and President Donald Trump had a “productive conversation” and reviewed bilateral ties.

Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump spoke amid growing concerns over the India-U.S. relationship, underlined by a talk by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in New York earlier this week where he spelt out a number of “issues”, including over tariffs, FTA negotiations, the U.S.’s treatment of Indian migrants and Pakistan.

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The call between the two leaders followed talks between Mr. Jaishankar and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and U.S. Undersecretary of State Allison Hooker on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). During both meetings, Indian officials had raised concerns over the U.S.’s new Lindsey O Graham Sanctions Against Russia and Iran Act (SRIA), which mandates Mr. Trump to levy up to 100% tariffs on goods imported from India, China and other countries that import Russian oil. Mr. Misri also raised the issues with a U.S. Congressional delegation in Delhi this week. 

In a social media post, Mr. Modi said he and Mr. Trump discussed India-U.S. cooperation in “trade, defence, energy, critical technologies and other areas”, but made no direct reference to the SRIA.  

‘Close engagement’

“We agreed to maintain close engagement to take our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership forward. We also exchanged views on regional and international issues, including ongoing efforts to advance global peace and security,” he said.

On December 14-15, Mr. Modi is expected to travel to Florida to attend the G20 summit hosted by Mr. Trump. Officials said it was too early to confirm whether Mr. Modi, who will travel to Canada prior to that, would also hold bilateral talks with Mr. Trump, and indicated that the progress in the talks for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which the U.S. is keen to complete quickly, could determine the engagement. 

At a talk at the Asia Society in New York this week, Mr. Jaishankar acknowledged that New Delhi had several pending issues with the U.S., although he said “much of the world has had a more difficult relationship with the U.S.” as well.

Mr. Jaishankar said the FTA negotiations were “complex” given the 30-fold difference in the per capita income between India and U.S., agricultural needs and production capacity, and the pace of negotiations had created “bumps in the relationship”.

“So the expectation that it could rapidly move forward, was tested against a ground reality which was much more complex,” Mr. Jaishankar said. He said while there was now “more or less” an understanding on the trade agreement, the problems now emanated from the U.S. courts, that struck down Mr. Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs”, and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), that has brought in new tariffs according to its “Section 301” investigations. 

Another issue, Mr. Jaishankar said, was the U.S. relationship with Pakistan, despite India’s concerns over cross-border terrorism.

“There are very few countries which have been subjected to the kind of terrorism that we have from a neighbour (Pakistan) as part of a deliberate, conscious policy over many, many decades. Now, if something which matters so deeply to us, [and] there isn’t enough understanding or appreciation or empathy of that, I think that creates a problem,” he said.. 

Mr. Jaishankar said the U.S.’s domestic policies on immigration also had an impact on the relationship due to public opinion in India.  “For many years mobility was seen as an economic gain. Now, today the economics of mobility and the politics of mobility are at odds with each other, at least in some quarters. And that, certainly in public perception [in India] is an issue,” he said, in conversation with Asia Society Distinguished Fellow Daniel Russel on Monday (September 28, 2026).