Washington, DC: US president Donald Trump boasted about his country’s defence cooperation with India, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought up the issue of a delay in the supply of Apache helicopters during a conversation.
The delivery of the 68 attack helicopters has been delayed by five years, Trump said, adding that the Indian PM expressed concern about this, as reported by ANI.
However, it seems that the US president got his facts and figures wrong. India ordered only 28 Apache helicopters from the US and all of them have been delivered as on December 2025, as reported by TOI.
The US president was speaking at the House GOP Member Retreat on Tuesday (local time) when he criticised this delay in supply of vital defence equipment.
“India coming at me that thay have been waiting for 5 years and we are changing that. India ordered 68 Apache helicopters. PM Modi came to me and said ‘Sir can I please see you?’ and I said yes,” Trump said, while recalling his interaction with PM Modi.
He also reiterated his good relationship with Prime Minister Modi; but underscored the latter’s unhappiness over the high tariffs imposed on India for purchasing Russian oil.
“I have a very good relationship with PM Modi, but he is not happy with me as India is paying high tariffs. But now they have reduced it very substantially, buying oil from Russia…” Trump said.
The Republican leader initially imposed a tariff of 25% on Indian exports to the US. He justified this exceptionally high tariff by claiming that India has not opened its market fully to US goods. Later, he imposed a further penalty of 25% for India’s purchase of Russian oil.
“They wanted to make me happy, basically. Modi is a very good man; he is a good guy. He knew I was not happy, and it was important to make me happy,” Trump said on Tuesday.
He also defended the tariff policy during his address, asserting that the United States was benefiting financially from the measures.
Trump’s comments follow a series of warnings to New Delhi over its ongoing energy trade with Moscow. Earlier, he warned that the US could raise tariffs further if India does not “help on the Russian oil issue,” directly connecting the pressure to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump has recently said that Washington could further raise tariffs on Indian goods if New Delhi does not address US concerns over Russian oil imports.
India has earlier rejected Trump’s assertion that PM Modi had assured him New Delhi would stop purchasing Russian oil, clarifying that no such conversation or assurance had taken place.
