Modi in US: India-US delegation-level talks start

India and the US started delegation-level talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Monday.

The talks were preceded by a one-on-one meeting between Modi and Trump in the Oval Office.

"President Trump has welcomed me with immense warmth. I thank him for the welcome. This is an honour for the 1.25 billion people of India," Modi told the media ahead of the meeting.

"I remember very well when he (Trump) was not even the President and he visited India in 2014 and when media asked him about me, he was full of very warm remarks and observations about me. I am still very grateful," he said.

Trump said it was "a great honour" to host Modi "who has been such a great PM".

"You have done a great job economically and you are doing well in so many ways. I would like to congratulate you," the US President said.

Earlier, Modi was welcomed by Trump and his wife Melania at the US presidential residence and was accorded a red carpet welcome. Both leaders warmly shook hands and smiled in what was their first ever meeting.

Prior to Monday's meeting, Modi had spoken to Trump thrice over the phone after the latter assumed office in January this year.

Defence and counter-terrorism issues are likely to be among the major topics to be discussed during the Modi-Trump meeting.

On Sunday, in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, Modi said that defence was a mutually beneficial sphere of the Indo-US partnership.

"We are already working together to address the existing and emerging strategic and security challenges that affect both our nations -- in Afghanistan, West Asia, the large maritime space of the Indo-Pacific, the new and unanticipated threats in cyberspace," he said in the article.

Earlier on Monday, US Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made courtesy calls on Modi here.

On Sunday, Trump tweeted about the arrival of Modi and called him "a true friend". Hours before the Modi-Trump meet, the US on Monday also declared the Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin a global terrorist.