‘Sir, may I see you, please?’: Trump says of Modi on India's 'purchase of 68 Apache choppers'

US President Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought a meeting with him over defense purchases amid tariff tensions between the two nations over New Delhi's Russian oil purchases.

"Prime Minister Modi came to see me: 'Sir, may I see you, please? Yes'," Trump told the House GOP Member Retreat in Washington on Tuesday.

India ordered 68 Apache choppers, Trump said, according to a video record of his speech.

He said New Delhi had been waiting for five years for the Apache purchases. "We are changing it."

There was no official comment from New Delhi about the purchase of Apache, as said by Trump.

According to the Times of India newspaper, New Delhi "ordered only 28 Apache helicopters in total, and as of December 2025, all of them have been delivered."

Touching on tariff tensions with New Delhi, partly due to Russian oil purchases by India, Trump said: "I have a very good relationship with him (Narendra Modi). He's not that happy with me because, you know, they're paying a lot of tariffs now."

He, however, said India has "now reduced very substantially" Russian oil purchases.

The Trump administration has imposed punishing 50% tariffs on Indian imports, partly for buying Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine.

India had increased its purchases of discounted Russian crude oil since 2022, becoming one of Moscow's top energy customers despite Western sanctions.

The US is India's largest trade partner, with total goods and services trade reaching an estimated $212.3 billion in 2024.