• Modi’s visit follows Trump call on January 27.
• US military plane departs with deported migrants.
• Modi, Trump to discuss immigration, economic ties.

US President Donald Trump has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the White House next week, a White House official said, hours after a US military plane departed to return deported migrants to the country.

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the C-17 aircraft had departed for India with migrants aboard but would not arrive for at least 24 hours.

Trump spoke with Modi on January 27, when he discussed immigration and stressed the importance of India buying more American-made security equipment and fair bilateral trading ties.

India, a strategic partner of the United States in its efforts to counter China, is keen to enhance trade relations with the US and make it easier for its citizens to get skilled worker visas.

It is also keen to avoid tariffs that Trump has threatened in the past, citing India’s high tariffs on US products.

On Sunday, Indian Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the country does not want to give any signal that it is protectionist after slashing import duties on high-end motorcycles, amid US President Donald Trump’s moves on tariffs.

The remarks came a day after Trump ignited a trade war with sweeping tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. None were aimed at India, although Trump had called it a tariff abuser during his election campaign last year.

Trade and immigration issues will take centrestage when PM Modi meets with Trump, whose administration India has sought to placate after his accusations that its tariffs hurt prospects for American firms.

India’s budget cut import tariff slabs, reducing average basic customs duties on scores of items such as raw materials for domestic industries like textiles and automobiles, Pandey added.

Average import tariffs on essential goods, mainly items of food and raw material, range from zero to 5%, while those on capital goods range from 7.5% to 10%, with about 10 items in higher tax categories, he said.

Trade analysts were not convinced the cuts were sufficient, however.

Trump’s administration has upped the ante by recently raising the issue of undocumented Indians living in the United States, a topic on which India’s foreign ministry has said it is in dialogue with US authorities.

India slashed custom duties on motorcycles, such as those from Harley-Davidson, with engine capacity of 1,600cc or more, to 30% from 50% on fully-built imports in the budget, which Pandey said also cut average tariffs to 11% from 13%.

The United States is India’s largest trading partner and two-way trade between the two countries surpassed $118 billion in 2023/24, with India posting a trade surplus of $32 billion.