Trump praises India’s growth, lauds PM Modi

US President Donald Trump on Friday praised India’s “astounding” growth after it opened its economy and also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he has been working successfully to bring the vast country and its people together.

Speaking at a gathering of CEOs on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnamese port city, Trump cited India as one of the countries in the Indo-Pacific region making strides. He pointed out that India was celebrating the 70th anniversary of its independence and highlighted that the country was a sovereign democracy with a population of over 1 billion as well as the largest democracy in the world. “Since India opened its economy, it has achieved astounding growth and a new world of opportunities for its expanding middle class,” Trump said. “And Modi has been working to bring that vast country and all of its people as one. And he has been working at it very, very successfully indeed,” the US President said. Earlier, a senior Trump administration official told reporters that India is a major economy that has registered fast growth.