By David Brunnstrom, Kanishka Singh and Shilpa Jamkhandikar WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump stressed the importance of India buying more American-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship in a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday,

US President Donald Trump, in a "productive" phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sought a move towards a "fair" bilateral trading relationship and deeper India-US cooperation, according to the White House.

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump pressed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “fair” trading ties in a call on Monday, the White House said, as Trump continues to push his hardline trade agenda with world leaders.

U.S. President Donald Trump stressed the importance of India buying more American-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship in a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday,

The two leaders also doubled down on their friendship, which began during Trump's first term in office. Trump attended a rally with Modi in Houston in 2019, and visited India in 2020.

Mr Trump and Mr Modi enjoyed warm relations in the US president’s first term, but during his campaign for re-election Mr Trump called India a “very big abuser” on trade and vowed to use tariffs on global imports into the US to correct imbalances.

Indian and U.S. diplomats are trying to arrange a February meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, two Indian sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

President Trump spoke Monday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, discussing the relationship between their two countries and plans for Modi to visit the White House. During the call, Trump stressed that India should increase the amount of American-made security equipment it purchases in an effort to balance the trade relationship between the two countries,

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke in a phone call on Monday, Modi said in a post on X, the first conversation between the two leaders since Trump's inauguration last week.

This is the first time the two politicians, who describe each other as friends, talked on phone since Trump's mega inauguration event.