New Delhi: With a new occupant in the White House, the India-United States bilateral agenda appears to have shifted, with the latest India-US joint statement omitting mentions of the Ukraine war, climate change, and health, while a critical technology initiative appears to have been rebranded.
On Thursday (February 13) afternoon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump in Washington – less than a month after his second presidential inauguration. This visit took place just six months after his last trip to United States, when Modi had been hosted by the then President Joe Biden at his hometown in Delaware.
Here is The Wire’s comparison of the last bilateral joint statement under Biden and the first one of Trump’s second term, which starkly shows the changes in Washington’s focus.
In the 2024 joint statement, Biden had praised Modi for his visits to Russia and Ukraine for his “message of peace and ongoing humanitarian support for Ukraine, including its energy sector”. There was no reference to the ongoing conflict in Europe in the latest one.
During both the Oval Office media interaction and the joint press conference, Indian journalists asked Trump about India’s potential role in brokering peace between Russia and Ukraine. On both occasions, he chose not to respond.
Instead, at the press conference, Trump shifted the focus to China, suggesting that Beijing could play a role in resolving the war. “I don’t want to be naive, but as leaders go, I think we were very close, and I think that China is a very important player in the world. I think they can help us get this war over with Ukraine and Russia,” he said.
A new avatar for iCET?
Rolled out in May 2022, the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) was intended to remove obstacles to joint efforts in defence, clean energy, space, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, and more, spanning both public and private sectors. The two national security advisers have chaired two review meetings, with the last one being in June 2024.
However, less three years later, iCET is entirely missing from the latest joint statement.
Instead, the document introduces the “US-India TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technology) initiative,” which has a strikingly similar aim. According to the joint statement, TRUST will “catalyse government-to-government, academia and private sector collaboration to promote application of critical and emerging technologies in areas like defence, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum, biotechnology, energy and space, while encouraging the use of verified technology vendors and ensuring sensitive technologies are protected.”
No space for regional economic alliances
Unsurprisingly, another acronym absent from the joint statement is that of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
Last time, Modi and Biden had “welcomed” India formally signing onto the IPEF.
The IPEF was launched by the Biden administration along with 13 other countries in 2022. It emerged partly from concerns about the US losing economic influence in Southeast Asia. These concerns grew after Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in 2017. The situation was further compounded in 2020 when China and other Asian nations formed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
India had opted out of IPEF’s trade pillar but signed on to the clean energy, infrastructure, tax, and anti-corruption components.
During his election campaign, Trump had said that he would withdraw from IPEF on “day one”. While he has not yet done formally, the absence of any mention of IPEF in the joint statement suggests that his antipathy remains unchanged.
Nothing on clean energy or climate change
The Biden administration had advocated for cooperation in clean energy, aligning with New Delhi’s goal of expanding electricity generation from renewable sources. At their last meeting, Modi and Biden had released a separate roadmap for cooperating in “Safe and Secure Global Clean Energy Supply Chains,” especially in third countries with focus on Africa. It had announced plans to “unlock USD$1 billion in new multilateral finance” to support its implementation.
The 2025 joint statement is silent on clean energy or any broader efforts to address climate change. This comes as no surprise, given Trump’s long-standing scepticism of climate change despite the scientific consensus. In his initial weeks in office, several federal spending cuts have targeted environmental programmes.
Health cooperation gets the axe?
The 2024 India-US joint statement highlighted several health initiatives, including the new US-India drug policy framework that aimed synthetic drug production and trafficking while strengthening public health collaboration. They applauded the first US-India cancer dialogue, which focused on advancing cancer research, and the launch of the Bio5 partnership with South Korea, Japan, and the EU to strengthen pharmaceutical supply chains, which was critical due to China’s dominance in Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) production.
The US Development Finance Corporation also extended a $50 million loan to India’s Panacea Biotech to manufacture hexavalent vaccines for children. Additionally, the two sides welcomed triangular development partnership with Tanzania through USAID to enhance health cooperation, particularly in digital health and workforce capacity building. They had hoped to boost it to expand this to renewable energy projects, including solar energy “thereby bolstering energy cooperation in the Indo-Pacific”
With Trump’s approval, Elon Musk – the world’s richest man and head of the Department of Government Efficiency – dismantled USAID, the US’ overseas development agency, along with the broader foreign aid system.
As per the joint statement, there is no sign that Trump administration is interested in taking those health-related initiatives with India forward.
Irregular immigration and the Khalistan angle
The key addition in the latest joint statement is a much more expansive mention of illegal migration. It speaks of a need for “taking strong action against bad actors, criminal facilitators and illegal immigration networks to promote mutual security for both countries”.
Trump came into office vowing mass deportations, a stance he reinforced with military deportation flights to South America.
While several countries pushed back against the use of military aircraft for such operations, India accepted a first flight carrying 104 Indian citizens. The controversy escalated when the US Border Patrol chief posted videos of shackled Indians, sparking criticism in India and prompting opposition parties to raise the issue in parliament.
In Washington, the Indian delegation stuck to its standard response, stating that India would take back verified Indian nationals, while attributing the problem to criminal syndicates.
However, the joint statement’s text goes further than before, committing both sides to targeting illegal immigration networks along with “other elements who threaten public and diplomatic safety and security, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both nations.”
Indian officials highlighted the final phrase – apparently directed at Khalistani groups in the US – as an assurance that Washington would address the issue.
