After heaping praise on Pakistan’s Gen Asim Munir earlier this week, President Trump told Prime Minister Modi in a phone call on Tuesday that “I just want you to know we all love you.”
If Modi was bemused his post on X indicated nothing of that kind, merely stating “Received a call from my friend President Donald Trump. We reviewed the substantial progress in our bilateral cooperation in various sectors. We are committed to further strengthening our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership in all areas.
“We also discussed the situation in West Asia and stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure.”
The phone call from Trump would have intensified speculation about the Quad summit which India is to host. Quad foreign ministers are meeting in Delhi in May and the next logical step would be the summit of heads of state.
But sources told StratNewsGlobal they had no clarity in that regard and in any case, the focus right now was on the Big Cat Summit in India which is expected to be attended by heads of state from 95 countries later this year.
Add to that the BRICS summit in September, but sources said there was no telling what impact the war in West Asia could have on the summit.
The sense was the US wanted to end the war but on its terms, but Israel saw it differently, hoping to disarm Iran of its nuclear weapons.
The sources doubted if that was achievable, pointing out that some kind of a moratorium on the development or deployment of nuclear weapons may be more practical and workable.
This is the third time the two leaders have talked this year and the first conversation since the Islamabad talks between the US and Iran over the weekend.
Earlier conversations were in February when they announced progress in the trade deal, and another in March as the situation in West Asia deteriorated.
