Congress MP Shashi Tharoor hopes Modi objected to deportation of Indians in shackles during meeting with Trump

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Feb 14 expressed hope Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to US President Donald Trump that deporting Indians in shackles in a military aircraft was not right and added the two leaders' press conference suggested they had a good meeting.

Trump hosted Modi for talks at the White House early on Feb 14 during which they discussed bilateral, regional and global issues.

"I hope, behind closed doors, he (Modi) said to the Americans, 'You can't insult our people. You can send them back, they are illegal, we will look after them, they belong in our country but don't send them back in shackles and handcuffs on a military aircraft... That is not right'..." Tharoor told PTI Videos on the sidelines of the Invest Karnataka summit.

"I hope he (Modi) has said it behind closed doors. We don't know," the Thiruvananthapuram MP added.

A US military aircraft brought back 104 Indians living illegally in the US earlier this month — the first such batch of Indians deported by the Trump administration as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.

The deportees had claimed their hands and legs were cuffed throughout the journey and that they were unshackled only after landing in Amritsar.

Tharoor said the joint press conference addressed by the two leaders suggested that the talks were good.

"...on other matters, including Ukraine peace and so on, the press conference suggested that the two of them had a very good meeting," he said.

"To hear a man like Donald Trump, whose defense secretary yesterday (Feb 13) called him the greatest negotiator in the world, announcing that the Indian prime minister was a better negotiator than he was, that sounds like something Mr Modi can put in the bank, that sounds very good," he added.

Issues relating to trade and tariffs figured extensively in the meeting between Trump and Modi that took place hours after the US president announced a new reciprocal tariff policy for all its trading partners.

Asked about the issue, Tharoor said a way had to be found as exports were important for the economy to grow.

"India, particularly under the BJP government, does have rather high and somewhat protectionist tariffs in some areas. Their argument is, 'We have to protect Indian industry'... The Americans say, 'We want to sell goods to you'... So you have to make it more feasible," the Congress MP added.

Tharoor suggested that "some mid-point" would have to be found on the matter.

"Clearly, on some items, we cannot be in a situation where American reciprocal tariffs will make it impossible for our exporters... Our economy will not grow unless our exports grow," he said.

"We need to find out how we can create a constructive deal with America, it may not be a complete free trade agreement but a deal that will give us an opportunity to sell goods to them and, in exchange, let them sell us some goods that perhaps we don't make here... We will have to find a way and that will be the responsibility of who is leading the negotiations in the course of the next nine months," he added.

At a joint press briefing, Trump announced that he and Modi agreed on a deal that would facilitate India to import more US oil and gas to reduce Washington's trade deficit with New Delhi.

Modi also welcomed Trump's efforts to end the war in Ukraine, insisting a solution to the conflict could not be found on the battlefield and that dialogue and diplomacy were the only way to bring peace.

(PTI)