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By David Brunnstrom, Nandita Bose and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump stressed the importance of India buying more American-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship in a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, the White House said.
Trump later himself told reporters they also spoke about the issue of immigration and that Modi will visit the U.S. sometime in February. The White House said earlier that plans for a Modi visit were discussed by the two leaders.
In what the White House called a "productive call," the leaders discussed expanding and deepening cooperation and issues including security in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe.
Reuters reported last week that Indian and U.S diplomats are trying to arrange a meeting of the leaders as early as February.
Trump and Modi enjoyed warm relations in the U.S. president's first term, but during his campaign for re-election Trump called India a "very big abuser" on trade and vowed to use tariffs on global imports into the U.S. to correct imbalances. Trump has also threatened the BRICS group of nations, of which India is a part, with tariffs if they did not accept his demand of committing to not create a new currency.
In Monday's call, Trump "emphasized the importance of India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship," a White House statement said.
The U.S. is India's largest trading partner and two-way trade surpassed $118 billion in 2023/24, with India posting a surplus of $32 billion.
India is also an important strategic partner in U.S. efforts to counter China, and in a social media post on Monday, Modi called Trump a "dear friend" and said they were "committed to a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership."
"We will work together for the welfare of our people and towards global peace, prosperity, and security," Modi said.
An Indian statement said the leaders discussed technology, trade, investment, energy and defense and "agreed to remain in touch and meet soon at an early mutually convenient date."
The White House said Trump and Modi emphasized their commitment to the Quad grouping that brings together the United States and India with Australia and Japan, with India to host Quad leaders later this year.
Tanvi Madan, an India expert at Washington's Brookings Institution, said it appeared likely Modi would visit Washington soon, with Trump reciprocating by attending the Quad summit.
"Trade and immigration issues are clearly on the Trump administration’s agenda when it comes to India," she said. "Its impact will depend in part on India’s response to Trump’s asks, but also how the broader debate on those issues plays out in Washington."
Madan said India would be hoping for a changed U.S. posture towards India's close relations with Russia, but for the time being would have to contend with U.S. sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine war.
'DO WHAT'S RIGHT'
Trump told reporters on Monday Modi "will do what's right" when it comes to taking back Indian immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally.
In a meeting with India's foreign minister last week, Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized a desire to "address concerns related to irregular migration."
Trump has pledged to crack down on illegal immigration and Bloomberg News reported last week that India and the U.S. have identified some 18,000 Indian migrants who are in the U.S. illegally.
Trump has said he is open to legal migration of skilled workers and India is known for its massive pool of IT professionals, many of whom work across the world. They account for the bulk of the skilled worker H-1B visas issued by the United States.
The U.S. readouts this week and last made no mention of Washington's accusations of Indian involvement in a foiled murder plot on U.S. soil against a Sikh separatist that were an awkward factor in relations in the latter part of the administration of former President Joe Biden.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose, Kanishka Singh, David Brunnstrom and Ryan Patrick Jones in Washington; additional reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Tanvi Mehta in New Delhi; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Stephen Coates and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
