US President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated his stance on India’s high tariffs, even as he showered praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling him a “great friend” and a “very smart man”. It is significant to note that despite the Trump administration having been pushing for reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods, the US president has expressed confidence that ongoing trade discussions between the two nations would yield positive results. It is interesting to note that it was only in February that Trump had described Modi as “a very special man”. Trump incidentally has been highly critical of Modi in the recent past, with the relations going to such an extent that when all top leaders of the world were present during the inauguration of Trump’s second term as President of the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conspicuous by his absence. Though the opposition parties in India went hammer and tongs over Modi’s absence at the Trump inauguration, the official stand was that Modi does not participate in foreign presidential inauguration ceremonies. Trump, it may be recalled, had taken a loud anti-India stand during his election campaign, particularly over India’s high tariff on American goods. And it was only in February that the US President had expressed his displeasure over “the only problem with India”, which is that the latter is one of the highest-tariffing nations in the world. Trump had in February also accused India of restrictive trade practices by saying that it is difficult to sell anything into India because “it is almost restrictive”. But, while there has even been the suggestion that Narendra Modi and Donald Trump are made for each other, that they are two strongmen politicians with a flair for populist demagoguery and prime-time showmanship, the million-dollar question is – can Modi and Trump really get along well? It was only a few weeks ago that the unpredictable US president had caused a huge embarrassment for Narendra Modi during a press conference.