Trump-Modi bromance back on display in meeting on sidelines of G7

US President Donald Trump (R) prepares to shake hands with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a bilateral meeting as part of the G7 summit, in Evian, eastern France, on June 17, 2026. Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images The Trump-Modi bromance appears to be back on. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was committed to defending India , if it's attacked — but only if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is at the helm, underscoring the personal equation between the two leaders. "If anybody attacks that man, we're going to be there now," Trump said, referring to Modi. "I think India plays a big role in everything. As long as he's the leader," Trump said, answering another question from the press on whether New Delhi could play a bigger role in the Middle East. But even as the relationship between the two leaders remains warm, there is growing dissonance in the strategic and economic ties between the two countries as the U.S. takes tougher stands on trade and immigration , and is resetting ties with China . Recent events have called it into question even further. On Tuesday, the Department of War removed the word "Indo" from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which indicated that India was being seen as less strategically important. For more than two decades, consecutive U.S. administrations had deepened ties with India as a measure to counterbalance China's influence in the Indo-Pacific. …