Trump and Modi meet at G7 amid trade tensions

Trade friction, visa disputes and a fight over Donald Trump’s claims about Pakistan overshadowed the G7 meeting with Narendra Modi in Evian-les-Bains, France, turning a familiar diplomatic encounter into a hard test of whether personal chemistry could still move policy. The two leaders last met face-to-face in Washington on Feb. 13, 2025, when they set a goal of more than doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion a year by 2030.

That February meeting had projected a much broader agenda. Trump and Modi publicly emphasized defense cooperation, technology, energy security and regional issues, while also laying out a bilateral trade roadmap. By the time they met again in France, the relationship had narrowed to damage control, with trade talks still active but no deal seen as imminent.

The immediate pressure points were concrete. India was seeking preferential tariff treatment as Washington weighed fresh tariff proposals, and H-1B visa policy remained a source of friction. Energy cooperation also stayed on the table, reflecting how much of the relationship now depends on whether Washington and New Delhi can stabilize commercial ties before trying to expand them again.

The meeting also carried political risk for both sides. Trump has repeatedly said he helped halt India’s conflict with Pakistan, an assertion New Delhi denies, and that dispute has become one of the sharpest flashpoints in the relationship. For Modi, the challenge was to preserve the strategic gains of the last several years without conceding ground on tariffs, visas or sovereignty.

The calendar suggested the talks were a checkpoint, not an endpoint. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was expected to travel to India the week after the summit for further negotiations, keeping the trade file open as both governments tried to salvage momentum. The G7 encounter showed that even after months of praise and summit-stage symbolism, the U.S.-India partnership still rises or falls on the terms of trade, mobility and strategic trust.