According to BBC, Reuters and other media reports, after weeks of tensions between the two countries over tariffs, U.S. President Donald Trump called on India's Prime Minister Modi on 16 local time, congratulating him on his 75th birthday one day in advance.BBC said the call was seen as a signal of easing relations between the two sides.

Modi wrote on social platforms after his regular speech that Modi "doed very well" and thanked for his support for "end the Russian-Ukrainian conflict", while Modi earlier wrote on social platform X that he called Trump a "friend" and said the two sides were "committed to" bringing the partnership to a new height.

This is the first call between the two leaders since the U.S. imposed punitive tariffs on India last month for buying Russian oil.

Trump signed an executive order on July 31 to impose 25 percent tariffs on Indian US goods from August 7. Trump later called India ¡°directly or indirectly importing Russian oil¡± and began imposing an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian US goods from August 27. This meant that the U.S. tariffs on India reached 50 percent. The relevant trade talks were also suspended. The BBC said that on September 16 local time, the U.S. delegation held talks with officials from the Indian Ministry of Commerce. The Indian side said that the talks between the U.S. and India on the same day were not the beginning of a new round of trade negotiations, but a ¡°discussion¡± of ¡°trying to explore¡± how to reach an agreement.