New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to US President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday to congratulate him on his “spectacular” victory, and said he looked forward to working together with him again to further strengthen India-US relations across technology, defence, energy, space and other sectors.
Official sources said Modi also congratulated Trump on the performance of his Republican Party in the US Congressional elections, as both leaders affirmed that they would work together for world peace.
The warm personal camaraderie between the two leaders came through in the telephonic conversation as Trump said the “whole world loves Modi” and described India as a magnificent country and the prime minister as a magnificent man, they added.
Trump also said that he considered Modi and India as a true friend, noting that the Indian leader was one of the first world leaders he spoke to after his victory, the sources added.
In a post on X, Modi said, “Had a great conversation with my friend, President Donald Trump, congratulating him on his spectacular victory. Looking forward to working closely together once again to further strengthen India-US relations across technology, defence, energy, space and several other sectors.”
As Trump cruised to victory, Modi earlier in the day congratulated him on his “historic” presidential poll victory, and said he looks forward to renewing their collaboration to further strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership.
“Together, let’s work for the betterment of our people and to promote global peace, stability and prosperity,” he said.
The prime minister also posted pictures of his previous meetings with Trump, who was the US president from 2016 to 2020.
Last month, Trump had praised Prime Minister Modi as “the nicest human being”, saying the Indian leader is “a friend of mine”.
Trump had made the comment in response to a question during the Flagrant podcast.
“Modi, India. He’s a friend of mine. He’s great… Before him, they were replacing them every year. It’s very unstable. He came over. He’s a friend of mine. But on the outside, he looks like he’s your father. He’s the nicest, but he’s a total killer,” he had said.
Trump had also recalled Modi’s visit to Houston in 2019 to attend the ‘Howdy Modi’ event during his tenure, saying, “It was beautiful. It’s like 80,000 people going crazy. We were walking around…”
The Republican candidate had said he shares a “very good relationship” with Modi.
The ‘Howdy Modi’ event was followed by Trump’s 2020 visit to India, where he was welcomed with the ‘Namaste Trump’ rally, organised by PM Modi in Ahmedabad, with about 1,00,000 people attending the event at a cricket stadium.
Modi and Trump had also met in 2017 in Washington DC.
PTI