Narendra Modi’s phone conversation with Donald Trump, the recently-returned president of the United States of America, was in many ways an early reminder of the best-case scenario for relations between the two countries over the next four years. Mr Modi described Mr Trump as a dear friend on the social media platform, X, after their phone call. Mr Trump said he was confident New Delhi would do the right thing on the issue of undocumented Indian migrants in the US and added that Mr Modi might be visiting the US as soon as February. That would make the Indian prime minister among the first world leaders to visit Mr Trump since his re-entry into the White House. But a closer look at what is known about the content of their call points to the many niggles that the bilateral ties will need to overcome. The US president, who prides himself as a tough dealmaker, made clear that he expected Mr Modi to take back the estimated 725,000 Indian immigrants currently in America without proper papers. Soon after their call, Mr Trump also threatened tariffs on India, accusing New Delhi of pursuing unfair trade practices. He also suggested that India increase its purchase of US weapons in order to balance their trade, which is currently loaded in favour of Indian exports.

These are pressure points that will continue to erupt in the Indo-US relationship and India must prepare for them. Some news reports suggest that India has already agreed to take back 18,000 undocumented migrants from the US but given Mr Trump’s appetite for deportation — as is evident from his daily pronouncements — the US under its new leader is unlikely to be satiated by that number. From Mr Modi’s perspective, the prospect of images of Indians in chains held in detention facilities — Mr Trump has now suggested sending deportees to the notorious Guantanamo Bay — splashed over traditional and social media will not be pleasant. Buckling to Mr Trump’s demands on tariffs will also mean hurting the interests of Indian industries that are not in a position to compete globally in the absence of entry barriers to protect them. New Delhi would also want to portray its already increasing purchase of US weapons to be a decision made by choice, not coercion. How India navigates these potholes could determine how it emerges from the years with Mr Trump at the US’s helm: badly bruised or relatively unscathed.