Trump: ‘Big’ trade deal with India ‘after US polls’

New Delhi: With a grand welcome and cultural experience of “28 stages” at an “India Road Show” awaiting US President Donald Trump in Ahmedabad on Monday, Mr Trump on Wednesday expressed confidence that his country would sign a “big” trade deal with New Delhi, not during his visit but rather sometime “later”, and then claimed that his country had “not been treated very well by India”. It was a reference to his repeated claim that Indian trade tariffs are blocking market access for US goods.

In what will be a huge sweetener, India is set to acquire defence equipment worth billions of dollars from the United States, including naval helicopters, Apache attack helicopters and missile systems that will be a missile shield to protect New Delhi from any hostile aerial threat. New Delhi has already procured a whopping $18 billion worth of defence equipment from America in the past few years. On the trade front, Indian government sources made it clear on Wednesday that New Delhi is in “no hurry” to sign a trade deal with the US as the issue was “complicated”. Sources also said India “doesn’t want to rush into a deal” and “will not compromise with national interests”. Pointing out that India was seeking a “mutually-beneficial (trade) deal” and that negotiations were ongoing but “not stuck”, government sources added that New Delhi wants restoration of India’s $5.6 billion trade concessions under the key “Generalised System of Preferences” (GSP) programme that was withdrawn by the US in June last year.

President Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania, will be on a two-day visit to India on February 24 and 25, when he will visit Ahmedabad (on February 24), then possibly a brief stop in Agra to see the Taj Mahal before sunset that evening, and then to New Delhi, where he will hold official talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the next day (February 25), during which the India-US strategic partnership, including defence, security, counter-terrorism, as well as trade
and energy, will be discussed. India is also expected to reiterate its position on Kashmir, defending the revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August and opposing any third-party mediation on the matter.

On Wednesday, President Trump told the US media in Washington: “We can have a trade deal with India but I’m really saving the big deal for later on. We’re doing a very big trade deal with India. We’ll have it. I don’t know if it will be done before the elections, but we’ll have  a very big deal with India. We’re not treated very well by India but I happen to like Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi a lot and he told me we’ll have seven million people between the airport and the event and the stadium. I understand it is sort of semi-under construction, but it’s going to be the largest stadium in the world. So it’s going to be very exciting. But he (PM Modi) says that between the stadium and the airport, we’ll have seven million people. So it’s going to be very exciting, I hope you’ll all enjoy it.”

The Indian government is pulling out all stops to give the US President a grand welcome when he lands in Ahmedabad on February 24. Thousands of people are expected to welcome the US President, who will be accompanied by Mr Modi at a major roadshow and in the large newly-constructed Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, which is the world’s largest cricket stadium.

Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Wednesday that President Trump’s visit will be a “brief but intense” one lasting about 36 hours, with visits to Ahmedabad on the morning of February 24, Agra in the evening the same day and then to New Delhi where he will hold talks with Mr Modi. On February 24 morning, Mr Trump will address the “Namaste Trump” event with Mr Modi at Moteara Stadium, where the two leaders are expected to address lakhs of people.

“The highlight of the programme in Ahmedabad will be the exhibition of India’s rich and diverse culture and heritage to President Trump in a public manner that has few parallels in India or elsewhere. From the moment of their arrival at the airport a little before noon February 24, the delegates will be treated to a display of famed Indian hospitality and India’s unity in diversity,” Mr Shringla said. “The route of their travel to the (Motera) Stadium is expected to have tens of thousands of ordinary citizens of India as well as artistes showcasing the performing arts of different states and Union territories... As many as 28 stages representing various parts of the country are being set up along the route in what is being called the India Road Show. The route will also feature decorations depicting different events in the life of Gandhiji,” the foreign secretary added.

“There will be public to greet President Trump outside Motera Stadium. Inside the new stadium, President Trump and Mr Modi would address a full-capacity audience, which would include people from different parts of India and all walks of life, reflecting the diversity of India. After this, President Trump and the First Lady will spend about an hour at the Taj Mahal (in Agra) before sunset (on February 24),” Mr Shringla said. President Trump will then leave for New Delhi for talks the next day with Prime Minister Modi.