PM Modi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting on June 17 on the sidelines of the 52nd G7 Summit being hosted by France in Evian. The meeting was confirmed by senior White House officials, who said it would mark the first in person engagement between the two leaders since Operation Sindoor last year. According to officials, the conversation is expected to focus heavily on trade, though a final agreement is unlikely to be signed during the summit itself.
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“I think that the leaders will have a good opportunity to touch base and take stock of where we are and how forward leaning they want to be in closing a deal in coming weeks,” a senior US administration official said.
Trade Deal Talks and Tariff Tensions
The two countries have been working toward an interim trade agreement, with India pushing for preferential tariff treatment from Washington. The discussions come against the backdrop of a US proposal to impose an additional 12.5 percent tariff on Indian imports under Section 301, citing alleged forced labour practices, an allegation India has firmly rejected.
Key issues likely to come up include:
- Progress on the first tranche of a bilateral trade agreement, which India’s Trade Minister Piyush Goyal has said could be concluded by mid-July
- The proposed additional tariff under Section 301 and India’s pushback against it
- Tightened H-1B visa requirements and their impact on thousands of Indian professionals in the US
Modi’s Wider France and Slovakia Itinerary
Beyond the Trump meeting, Modi’s visit to France runs from June 13 to 19, covering Nice as well as Evian and Paris. The Prime Minister is also expected to hold bilateral talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, focusing on innovation, defence manufacturing, critical technologies and deeper India-EU cooperation.
