Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a new and rather familiar name for his vision for the country: “MIGA.”
In a press briefing with President Donald Trump on Thursday, Modi tweaked his US counterpart’s famed slogan, saying he wanted to “Make India Great Again.”
“When America and India work together, that is, when it’s MAGA plus MIGA, it becomes MEGA. A MEGA partnership for prosperity,” he said, adding that India and the US had agreed to work toward doubling bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
Modi’s visit came as Trump outlined his plans to impose “reciprocal” tariffs on trading partners, including India.
As of 2024, the US is one of India’s largest trade partners. US goods trade with India stood at an estimated $129.2 billion in 2024, per the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
But Trump took aim at what he called India’s “very strong” tariffs that “limit US access” to the local market.
“We are, right now, a reciprocal nation,” Trump said. “Whatever India charges, we’re charging them.”
He said that going forward he and Modi wanted a “level playing field” regarding tariffs and that they had agreed to a deal for India to import more American oil and gas.
Trump added that the US would also be increasing military sales to India and was “paving the way” to provide the country with F-35 fighter jets.
India’s benchmark indices dropped on Friday as investors’ concerns over tariffs mounted.
Under Modi’s leadership, India has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, spurred partly by a large, youthful workforce, significant public infrastructure investment, and a growing IT and services sector.
The Indian economy grew at a rapid rate of 8.2% in the financial year 2023 to 2024, boosted by investment in infrastructure and a rise in household investments in real estate, per the World Bank.
The World Bank projects India will remain among the world’s fastest-growing major economies for the next two financial years, with a predicted growth rate of 6.7%.
Modi’s government aims to make India a developed nation by 2047, but it faces a number of significant challenges, including high youth unemployment rates, widening economic inequality, regional disparities, a stagnant manufacturing sector, a large informal economy, and challenges in the agriculture sector.
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