00:00So just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the American President's meeting,
00:04U.S. President Donald Trump has commented on their working lunch.
00:08He wrote, and I quote,
00:10Unlike PM Modi, who's calm, cool, and a total killer, I'm not.
00:18Look at him.
00:20I want to quickly bring in Rohit into this conversation.
00:23Those are those images that are going absolutely viral across the world.
00:28Images of President Trump when he came for that family photograph at G7.
00:35There was a step.
00:36Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his hand.
00:39President Trump took his hand to balance a very symbolic picture too.
00:45And then the family picture was taken.
00:49Rohit, President Trump's comment,
00:51Unlike PM Modi, who's calm, cool, and a total killer, I'm not.
00:56Look at him.
00:57I think the total killer or words to that effect have been used even in the past in one of
01:03his podcasts.
01:06I think this is classic President Donald Trump, right?
01:09I mean, what he's trying to do is he obviously has heard things about, you know,
01:14how the relationship has been seen in India through all the quarters.
01:16He's heard it firsthand from his ambassador to India.
01:19So I think he's basically trying to set the tone for the meeting, saying, look, you know, he has had
01:25these outbursts or his cabinet ministers have said things.
01:29And he's sort of, you know, acknowledging the fact that all through this turmoil in the relationship,
01:35the Prime Minister of India kept his calm, kept his cool.
01:38And that's one of the reasons why, you know, they can still meet today.
01:42And one of the reasons why President Donald Trump appreciates Prime Minister Modi,
01:45that he's somebody who's very steadfast in this relationship,
01:49very, very sincere in making sure that Indians, India and the point of India is made across without, you know,
01:56all the shouting or any of those things.
01:59So I think a classic President Donald Trump acknowledging that he appreciates Prime Minister Modi,
02:04his leadership, not the first time he's done that and setting the tone for the ballot that's probably coming up
02:08in like next 10 minutes or so.
02:10Well, absolutely.
02:11And last year's G7, Sandeep, that I was covering in Canicus in Canada,
02:17there was a virtual ambush for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
02:21President Trump didn't stay back in Canada.
02:23He invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to White House, to Washington, D.C.
02:27on the way back from Canada before he flew back to India.
02:29Because Aasem Munir was already there.
02:32The Prime Minister, calm, cool, total killer.
02:36He didn't take that bait.
02:37He said, I have another engagement, went to Europe and came back to India.
02:41Absolutely, Gaurav.
02:42You know, and this flows from the fact that Prime Minister Modi is a serious politician.
02:45He's a long-term player.
02:47As we just discussed, he's been Prime Minister of India for 12 years.
02:50He's got another three years in his tenure,
02:53at the end of which he would have seen five American presidents.
02:57Trump's may come and go, Gaurav.
02:59Prime Minister Modi has bigger fish to fry.
03:02He has a bigger stake in this game than President Trump does.
03:06Trump is possibly going to be there for another six months,
03:09after which you have the midterm elections.
03:113rd of November is going to be very decisive.
03:13And whatever Trump has been doing over the last couple of weeks,
03:16with Iran, with even that UFC fight club thing that he did at the White House for his 80th birthday,
03:23all of that is to appear strong for the domestic audience.
03:27Now, that is something that Prime Minister Modi doesn't have to do.
03:29He does it very effortlessly.
03:31He's very cool.
03:31He's very calm.
03:32And he knows a bullet.
03:34He recognizes a bullet when he sees one, Gaurav.
03:37And he's actually a step ahead.
03:40Because, Rohit, just look at the situation, at that family photograph.
03:46Amongst democratically elected leaders across the world,
03:50Prime Minister Narendra Modi is perhaps the senior most.
03:54He's in his third term.
03:56So, you know, he's 12 years, longest-serving, elected, uninterrupted Prime Minister of India.
04:03So, he's in his third term.
04:05Others come, others go.
04:07From Barack Obama to Joe Biden to now Donald Trump in his first tenure,
04:15Donald Trump in his second tenure, Prime Minister has been there throughout.
04:19And, Sat, that's one of the things that, you know,
04:22I think President Trump has acknowledged over the years.
04:26He's always called him a strong leader.
04:27He said he's a tough negotiator.
04:29You know, I think President Trump always acknowledges strong leaders.
04:32I think one of the things that we talked about in the podcast,
04:34when it was running for President in 2024,
04:36he himself talked about Prime Minister Modi, somebody he respects a lot.
04:40So, yes, you know, as Sandeep was saying, you know,
04:42there's a bigger, you know, I think, vision that the Prime Minister has.
04:47Yes, things have not been right, but there will be the U.S.
04:49There will be a U.S. relationship to work with.
04:52Post-2028 and his calm and his coolness.
04:56You know, I'm actually surprised that President Trump would do that right now,
04:59just before the meeting.
05:00And this is something, you know, he would probably do after the meeting.
05:02But he started acknowledging the fact that the U.S.
05:05probably hasn't done right by India in a lot of ways.
05:08But the fact that Prime Minister Modi was able to hold patiently,
05:13you know, waiting for things to work out the way they have,
05:16tells you that he respects the Prime Minister.
05:18And as President Donald Trump said not too long ago, three weeks ago,
05:22that he loves people of India, loves Prime Minister Modi,
05:24and obviously respects him a lot.
05:26So a lot, I think, will be said now.
05:28I think this meeting, I probably think, will be a good meeting,
05:31and a lot will be said after this meeting,
05:32when we have the readouts,
05:34and another probably to the social from the President Donald Trump.
05:38Okay.
05:39And for the benefit of our viewers,
05:41unlike PM Modi, who's calm, cool, and a total killer,
05:47I am not.
05:49Look at him.
05:50And those images, the world's looking at those images.
05:53The Prime Minister also knows Sandeep when to engage and when not to.
06:00So, for example, not only did he not go to Washington, D.C. after G7 in Canada,
06:05he also subsequently did not go for UNGA, did not go for ASEAN.
06:11He knew when to engage Trump and when not to engage Trump,
06:15so that America would understand India,
06:18a country of 1.4 billion people,
06:21the fastest-growing large economy is no pushover.
06:24Absolutely, Al-Gharov.
06:25And, you know, he avoided President Trump in precisely those months
06:30where Trump was looking for validation for that Nobel Peace Prize,
06:35which he didn't get last year.
06:37Prime Minister Modi stayed away from the wave.
06:39He was very wary of those ambushes, as you mentioned.
06:43And now he's been setting into place in the last six months or so
06:47this relationship with Europe,
06:50which is our backup plan.
06:51United States is really important,
06:53but while we are ironing issues out,
06:57the trade deal and all that,
06:58they have gone to Europe.
07:00India has gone to Europe in a very big way.
07:02That is our plan B.
07:04And the United States, of course, is our plan A.
07:07And so while we are negotiating those trade deals,
07:10we are ironing issues out with the U.S.,
07:13you know, there is that bigger thing that we were discussing in an earlier session, Gaurav.
07:18The fact is that the United States has been treating all its allies this way.
07:23It's not just India.
07:24It's been doing that to NATO countries.
07:26This is possibly the first time in history in the last 80 years
07:29that the United States has threatened to invade a NATO country.
07:33Imagine Greenland.
07:34Yep, absolutely.
07:35A quick break.
07:36Quick break.
07:37In fact, I'm reminded of what Henry Kissinger spoke of being an American friend.
07:43He said, you know, to be an enemy is dangerous,
07:46but to be a friend is fatal.
07:49Except India knows how and when to respond.
07:53What would be that response?
07:54What emerges from this meeting remains our top story.
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