Washington

AsUS President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepared for talks on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France, Indian American lawmakers and experts called for a reset in relations, arguing that stronger economic and strategic cooperation would benefit both nations.

Leading that view was Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, who said he hoped Trump would use the meeting to repair ties with one of America's most important partners.

"The expectation would be for President Trump to normalise relationships with India," Subramanyam said on the eve of the meeting. He has strained the relationship with some of his actions, for instance, the tariffs and other you know, words that he said about Modi himself and India."

The Virginia Democrat said he hoped Trump would emerge from the meeting focused on rebuilding ties with New Delhi.

"And so hopefully he comes at a meeting normalising a relationship with an ally one of many allies whom he is alienated," he said.

Trade should be at the centre of efforts to improve relations, according to the Congressman. "Let's start with trade for instance," he said. "They increased the tariffs significantly."

While some of those tariffs have since been rolled back, Subramanyam said businesses in Virginia have already felt the consequences. "I think there's a, a lot of business people in Virginia who rely on the trade between India and the United States and have seen their businesses suffer and seen prices go up because of that," he said.

Subramanyam argued that deeper economic cooperation would strengthen both countries and help address wider strategic challenges in Asia. "I think it's good for everyone if the US and India and all countries that are allies and our partners in democracy can figure out that economic bond and can continue to figure out ways to counter what's happening as China continues to exude its influence over Asia," he said.

Asked about his expectations from the Trump-Modi meeting, Subramanyam stressed the importance of expanding business and economic engagement.

"India is a huge economic engine. United States is a massive global economic power, and the two countries working together to improve relations and improve ties and improve business dealings is better for both countries," he said.

He added: "We should be working collaboratively with all partners to increase economic activity in the United States."

Delegate Jas Jeet Singh of the Virginia House of Representatives echoed those concerns, particularly on trade. "We have to make sure that we do not harm our trading allies by imposing unilateral tariffs that don't necessarily make our country better off," Singh. "In fact, they make things more expensive here and they upset our trading partners."

He argued that Washington should pursue "a rational economic policy that doesn't impose unilateral tariffs".

Like Subramanyam, Singh said the Trump-PM Modi meeting presents an opportunity to strengthen one of the world's most consequential bilateral relationships. "I think we need to do everything we can to improve our relations," he said. Singh said cooperation, rather than confrontation, should guide policy. "I think having antipathy for other countries for no reason other than just general antipathy doesn't help anybody," he said.

"We should be working collaboratively with all partners to increase economic activity in the United States."

Asked what message he would send to Trump ahead of the meeting, Singh replied: "I hope that he fosters strong ties with our partners to build and create more good jobs in the United States."

Evian-les-Bains

PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump exchanged pleasantries and held a brief conversation at a gathering of G7 leaders, marking their first in-person encounter in 16 months amid continuing strain in bilateral ties.

In Evian-les-Bains, the site of this year's summit of the powerful grouping, Modi and Trump shared a warm handshake followed by a short conversation. A full bilateral sit-down is slated for Wednesday on the sidelines of the gathering.

While details of their brief exchange were not known, the encounter sets the stage for their high-stakes talks. The two leaders last met in-person at the White House in February 2025, weeks after Trump’s second inauguration.

Following US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to India last month, the two sides were now looking at rebuilding the bilateral ties.

The relations witnessed a major downturn after Washington imposed punitive tariffs on India and President Trump made controversial assertions regarding his role in de-escalating the India–Pakistan military clashes last May.

Over the next few months, the US president repeatedly and publicly claimed that he had resolved the military conflict between the two neighbours and saved millions of lives as it was heading toward a full-scale war.

New Delhi stoutly maintained that the cessation of the hostilities was A result of talks between India and Pakistan, and the US involvement had nothing to do with it. Washington's new immigration policy and its decision to increase the H1B visa fee also contributed to the slide in India-US ties.

However, both sides made efforts in the last few months to repair the ties and even moved forward to firm up a mutually beneficial trade deal soon.

Last week, the relations came under fresh strain after three Indian sailors were killed following the US military's attacks on three merchant vessels off the coast of Oman.

Three Indians from one of the vessels were killed in the strikes following which New Delhi summoned the US charge d'affaires Jason Meeks and told him that the American military’s “lethal and deadly” strikes on commercial vessels with Indian crew members is “unacceptable”.