US President Donald Trump last week formally invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the G7 summit to be held in the US later this year, acting on his desire to expand the size and scope of the grouping of major world economic powers. The two spoke over phone for 25 minutes even as racial tensions roiled America, discussing a range of topics including the situation on the India-China border, the Covid-19 pandemic and the need for reforms in the World Health Organisation. The Indian statement said Modi expressed concern regarding the ongoing civil disturbances in the US, and conveyed his best wishes for an early resolution of the situation.
Modi commended Trump's views on an expanded G7 as a "creative and far-sighted approach", acknowledging that such a development would be in keeping with the emerging realities of the post-Covid world. The reference to the border tensions indicates the US's critical view of China's intrusions across the LAC, voiced by senior American officials, and that any divergence over Trump's claims to have recently discussed the issue with Modi did not affect the cordial exchange. Reacting to Trump’s statement and his offer to mediate, India had said the two leaders had not spoken since April and that the discussion was on anti-malarial drug HCQ for Covid-19 treatment.
While Trump had claimed he had spoken to India about India-China tensions and that Modi seemed to be in a bad mood, India had responded by saying that it was looking to address the situation in Ladakh through existing bilateral mechanisms with China even as it remained firm on defending its sovereignty.
With the Indian readout of the conversation saying that the issue had been discussed, it is clear that the border situation remains serious as Chinese soldiers remain on Indian territory, despite Beijing having toned down the rhetoric in the past few days. Defence minister Rajnath Singh said Chinese troops were present in sizeable numbers at the border (he didn't specify though on which side).
“President Trump warmly recalled his visit to India in February this year. Prime Minister Modi said the visit had been memorable and historic on many accounts, and had also added new dynamism to the bilateral relationship. The exceptional warmth and candour of the conversation reflected the special nature of Indo-US ties, as well as the friendship and mutual esteem between both leaders,” the Indian statement said.
