NEW DELHI, Feb 25 (NNN-BERNAMA) — United States President Donald Trump on Monday offered to sell advanced military equipment to India as he began his two-day trip to the country. Trump arrived in Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat to a grand welcome, being received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a hug.
Folk dances and music continued along the 22-kilometre route as Trump travelled in a cavalcade from the airport to a cricket stadium, where the US president addressed the “Namaste Trump” rally, modelled after the “Howdy, Modi!” show in the city of Houston when the Indian prime minister visited the US five months ago.
The US president stopped at Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram on the way. Trump in his stadium speech underlined the growing relationship with India, with the promise of more trade and military deals.
India and the US will sign a US$3 billion deal for military helicopters and other equipment on Tuesday, Trump said.
“As we continue to build our defence cooperation, the United States looks forward to providing India with some of the best and most feared military equipment on the planet. We make the greatest weapons ever made, airplanes, missiles, rockets, ships. We make the best, and we are dealing now with India,” he said.
The US president also offered advanced air defence systems and armed and unarmed aerial vehicles to his hosts. Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior government officials, later flew to Agra in Uttar Pradesh state to see the famous Mughal-era monument Taj Mahal. The US leader will hold talks with Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday on various issues.
