Modi’s MIGA meets Trump’s MAGA: How India and US aim for a MEGA partnership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke about his vision to ‘Make India Great Again’ (MIGA), a phrase inspired by Donald Trump’s signature campaign slogan, ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA). Modi used the phrase soon after meeting Trump at the White House in Washington DC.

"President Trump often talks about MAGA. In India, we are working towards a Viksit Bharat, which in American context translates into MIGA. And together, the India-USA have a MEGA partnership for prosperity," Modi said in a post on X after the meeting.

The Prime Minister also mentioned about ‘MIGA’ while addressing a joint press conference with Trump: “The people of America are well aware of MAGA—Make America Great Again. The people of India are also moving towards Viksit Bharat 2047. "

Modi said he had an excellent meeting with Trump at the White House. “Our talks will add significant momentum to the India-USA friendship,” he said in another post. 

Modi and Trump met at the Oval Office in the White House on Friday morning. The two leaders discussed defence and trade deals, H1B Visas, immigration, innovation and more. This was Modi's first meeting with Trump after the US leader assumed office on January 20 and initiated a controversial tariff war with other nations.  

$500 billion trade by 2030: Modi

After the meeting, Modi claimed that India and the United States had jointly set a target of doubling their bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. 

"We have ... set ourselves the target of more than doubling our bilateral trade to attain $500 billion by 2030. Our teams will work on concluding very soon, a mutually beneficial trade agreement,” Modi said speaking at a press conference. President Trump said that the United States will be increasing its military sales to India by billions of dollars, and his government is paving the way to provide India with F35 Stealth fighters.

Earlier, Trump welcomed Modi at the West Wing lobby of the White House in Washington, DC, around 2.30 am IST, Friday. The leaders exchanged a warm hug as they greeted each other, rekindling old memories of when the two met in the US and India during Trump's first Presidency from 2017 to 2021. Modi has been Prime Minister of India since 2014.  

US is India's largest trade partner

The US is India’s largest trade partner as of 2024, and the bilateral trade between the two nations stood at $129.2 billion in 2024.

PM Modi began a two-day US visit on Thursday. Before meeting Trump, 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.