New Delhi [India], February 14 : Terming the ongoing visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States as "very important", Defence expert Dhruv C Katoch, said that the "strong rapport" between PM Modi and US President Donald Trump will further strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
He also pointed that the US-India partnership is has been ongoing for two decades and was strengthened to a great extent during Donald Trump's first presidency.
Speaking to ANI, Katoch said, "I think this visit is very important because it is the first visit of the Prime Minister to the United States in the Trump 2.0 Presidency. The US-India partnership is not something new. It has been ongoing now for about two decades. And in the last decade, especially during Trump's first tenure, it got strengthened to a very great extent."
Emphasising the rise of Quad, Katoch pointed towards the strategic convergences of interest between India and the United States. He added there will be a great convergence of interest on certain foreign policy issues as well.
"This is the time when we see the Quad also coming up and becoming really strong, which was not there earlier. So now I'm looking at there are strategic convergences of interest between India and the United States. And because the Indian Prime Minister and the US President have a very strong rapport, they've established a very strong rapport with each other, it will further strengthen this relationship," Katoch said.
"So what I'm looking at now is I think there is going to be a great convergence of interest on certain foreign policy issues. You know, what is happening in Gaza, the Israeli peace agreement with both the Hezbollah and with the Hamas, the situation in Iraq, and thirdly, the war in Ukraine," he added.
Katoch, however, expressed concerns on Trump's tariff threats, and said the trade relationship between India and US "may be a snag," while also adding that India can handle the situation.
"When we are looking at trade, this may be a snag. Trump is very determined to impose sanctions, and I think India can handle that. There are many things which are happening across the world, and if this is one of the negatives, well, that is part of the deal," the defence expert said.
"The overall deal is going to be much sweeter because I'm looking at transfer of technologies, especially upper-end technologies. I think that's going to take place. Number two, our defence relationship is going to be further strengthened," he added.
Speaking on the Indo-Pacific, the defence expert said that it will be a very positive takeaway from the Prime Minister's visit.
"We share very common concerns as far as the Indo-Pacific is concerned. And there, the talk will again take place as far as to how we further strengthen our convergences for the overall security and for free and open navigation in the Indian Ocean. And that is going to be a very positive takeaway from the visit of the Prime Minister," he further said.
PM Modi, who arrived in the US on Wednesday (local time), is scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House later in the day.
He also met US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Indian-origin entrepreneur, Vivek Ramaswamy.
This is PM Modi's first visit to the United States after Donald Trump assumed office for the second term. India's Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, and other officials PM Modi at the airport.
Upon arrival in the US, PM Modi said that he looked forward to meeting with the US President and building upon the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.
In his departure statement, ahead of his US visit, PM Modi noted that the visit will be an opportunity to build on the successes of collaboration in his first term and develop an agenda to further elevate and deepen the partnership between the two nations.