Key facts
- Modi and Trump met at G7 summit sidelines
- Trade, tariffs and trust were the core agenda items
- Meeting coincides with near-finalised India-U.S. interim trade deal
- USTR Greer's New Delhi visit (June 23-24) to follow the G7 meeting
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump met on the sidelines of the G7 summit, with their conversation dominated by the three Ts — trade, tariffs and trust — as India and the United States work to cement a bilateral reset after months of friction over Washington's aggressive tariff agenda.
The meeting was closely watched by Indian industry and diplomats alike. Trump's administration had earlier slapped steep reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods, triggering alarm across export-dependent sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals, and engineering products. New Delhi has since been in intensive negotiations to secure relief, and the G7 sideline meet appears to have added political momentum to those efforts.
The talks fed directly into the progress on an interim trade deal, which both sides have since described as needing only 'final touches' — with USTR Jamieson Greer scheduled to travel to New Delhi on June 23-24 to conclude the agreement. Modi's personal engagement with Trump at the G7 is being read as a signal that India is willing to offer meaningful market-access concessions in exchange for tariff relief.
For Modi, the optics are also important domestically — demonstrating that India's diplomacy can deliver economic wins under pressure. For Trump, a deal with India would be a high-profile addition to his administration's trade scorecard. Analysts note that how much ground India actually concedes — particularly on agriculture, digital trade, and intellectual property — will determine whether the 'reset' is substantive or largely performative.