Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 28 held a “very open and productive” meeting with US President Donald Trump as the two leaders pledged to provide a “strong leadership” to the world to address pressing global challenges like terrorism.

Modi, who is in Japan to attend the G-20 summit, thanked Trump for expressing his “love towards India” in a letter delivered by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week.

Modi said India stands committed to further deepen economic and cultural relations with the US, and the two leaders discussed Iran, 5G, bilateral relations and defence ties.

“The talks with @POTUS were wide ranging. We discussed ways to leverage the power of technology, improve defence and security ties as well as issues relating to trade,” Modi tweeted after the meeting.

Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said the meeting was “very open and productive”.

In a readout of the Trump-Modi meeting, the White House said the two leaders met to exchange perspectives on progress in the strategic partnership and develop new ideas to bring it to the next level.

The leaders acknowledged the unprecedented breadth and depth of US-India ties, including economic, trade, energy, defence and security, counterterrorism and space, it said.

“The leaders affirmed that, as responsible democracies, a close partnership between the United States and India is central to global peace and stability,” the readout said.

“They reiterated their commitment to provide strong leadership to address global challenges and build prosperity for their citizens in the decades to come,” it added.

On Iran, the foreign secretary said Modi outlined India’s energy concerns as well as worries over peace and stability in the region.

He pointed out that although Iran supplies 11 per cent of India’s energy, the country has reduced oil imports from Iran.

“We have our diaspora in the region, we have energy requirements in the region, we have economic interests in the region... therefore it is in India’s fundamental interest to maintain peace and stability in the region,” Modi was quoted as telling Trump.

Modi also recalled that India has deployed some of its Naval ships in the region to protect Indian-flagged vessels passing through the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

Both sides agreed to remain in touch on the issue of Iran and maintain regional stability.

The US reimposed sanctions on Iran in November after pulling out of landmark 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and six world powers. To reduce Iran’s crude oil export to zero, the US ended on May 2 waivers that had allowed the top buyers of Iranian oil, including India, to continue their imports for six months. India, complying with the US sanctions, has ended all imports of oil from Iran.

On the issue of 5G technology, Modi and Trump discussed the technical and business opportunities that this new area provides for cooperation between India and the US.

Modi outlined that India was going to have a billion users of this technology in that sense it was the second largest market in the world.

The Modi-Trump meeting assumes significance as the US president, championing his ‘America First’ policy, has been a vocal critic of India for levying “tremendously high” duties on US products.

India has raised tariffs on 28 items exported from the US in retaliation to America’s withdrawal of preferential access for Indian products.