The two leaders are expected to attend the G-7 summit June 15-17 in Évian-les-Bains, France. A formal bilateral meeting hasn’t been announced, and plans for any contact aren’t yet finalised.
Officials are exploring the possibility of a meeting on the margins of the gathering, the officials said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) didn’t respond to an email seeking further information. The US Embassy in New Delhi referred queries to the White House, which declined to comment on the plans.
Any meeting is likely to be complicated by the ongoing conflict in Iran, where renewed US attacks have threatened to derail negotiations. The US fired on a commercial vessel off the coast of Oman, US Central Command confirmed in a social media post. Three of the vessel’s 24 Indian crew members are still missing following the attack, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
New Delhi, which condemned the strike, has summoned the US chargé d’affaires over the incident, according to reports from AFP and local media.
Modi in February 2025 was one of the first leaders to visit Trump at the White House after the US president took office, but relations soured months later after brief military clashes between India and Pakistan. Trump has repeatedly claimed he helped to broker a ceasefire between the two countries, assertions that New Delhi has rejected. The US president has since forged strong personal ties with Pakistan’s leaders.
Trump also slapped 50% tariffs on Indian goods last year to penalise the country for its trade barriers and for buying oil from Russia. The tariffs were lowered earlier this year, and the two sides are now negotiating a new trade deal.
Modi and Trump haven’t met in person since last year, but have spoken over the phone several times in recent months as they seek to patch up ties. The two leaders failed to meet at the G-7 summit in Canada last year after Trump departed earlier, while Modi skipped a forum in Malaysia in October last year to avoid an awkward encounter with the US president, Bloomberg News reported at the time.
Despite the tensions, Trump has repeatedly heaped praise on his Indian counterpart, including a social media post on Wednesday (June 10) that congratulated Modi for his lengthy tenure as India’s prime minister.
“And a Great One he is! He is a strong, healthy, and wise man, and will have many years of Greatness and Success ahead of him!” Trump wrote.
Modi responded in a social media post, saying he looked forward to working to advance the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership for the benefit of both our nations and the world.
The meeting between the two leaders is unlikely to produce a sweeping breakthrough, officials familiar with the matter said. Its significance may lie instead in whether the two leaders can reset the tone of a relationship that both governments describe as indispensable.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a three-day visit to India last month, described the South Asian country as one of the most important strategic partners of the US.