Trump welcomes PM Modi with hug at White House, says "we missed you a lot"

Washington, DC [US], February 14 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump shared a hug as the latter welcomed the former at the White House on Thursday (local time).

Trump and PM Modi warmly greeted each other and shook hands. While meeting PM Modi, Trump said, "We missed you, we missed you a lot."

US President introduced PM Modi to other officials, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff shared a picture of PM Modi and Trump on X. While sharing the picture on X, Dan Scavino stated, "Behind Scenes in the West Wing lobby -- @POTUS Trump welcomes Prime Minister @NarendraModi of India to the @WhiteHouse."
The Indian delegation including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and India's Ambassador to the US Vinay Mohan Kwatra arrived at the White House soon after PM Modi's arrival.
Ahead of PM Modi's arrival, Indian flags were being put up at the White House. The Prime Minister is among the first few world leaders to visit the United States following President Trump's inauguration. He has been invited to visit within three weeks of the new administration taking office.
Since November 2024, PM Modi and Trump have spoken on the phone twice. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the inauguration ceremony of Trump as PM Modi's Special Envoy. During the visit, EAM Jaishankar also met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and participated in the QUAD Foreign Ministers' meeting in January 2025.
Ahead of his meeting with Trump at the White House, PM Modi held bilateral meetings with US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard.
PM Modi landed in the US at the invitation of Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time). He travelled to the US after concluding his three-day visit to France. During his visit to France, PM Modi met with US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday (local time).
Notably, India and the US launched a "strategic partnership" in 2005. The ties between the two nations were elevated to a Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership during Trump's visit to India in February 2020. (ANI)