Trump praises PM Modi's opium crackdown as India remains on US drug list

Washington DC: US President Donald Trump has commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration for its measures targeting opium production, even as India continues to feature on Washington's roster of major illicit drug transit and producer nations.

In an official release, the US Department of State conveyed the President's endorsement: "I welcome Prime Minister Modi and the Government of India's efforts to address illicit opium poppy cultivation and bolster supply chain integrity. I look forward to continued cooperation through the United States-India Drug Policy Framework."

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For the upcoming year 2027, the United States placed India alongside over twenty other nations on its designated inventory of major illicit drug-producing or transit countries. These include Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela, among others.

American officials clarified that inclusion on the official list does not signify a failure by national governments to combat narcotics.

Rather, countries feature due to economic, commercial, and geographical realities that naturally position them as commercial transit corridors or agricultural hubs, independent of strict local anti-narcotics enforcement.

Shifting focus to domestic and hemispheric security, President Trump underscored what he termed "historic progress" achieved by his administration in dismantling drug cartels and narcoterrorist networks.

Pointing to stricter border controls, he claimed that drug interceptions along the US southern border plummeted by more than half following what he characterised as four years of preceding open-border instability.

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The Republican leader further asserted that national overdose fatalities had sharply decreased, crediting these developments with preserving tens of thousands of American lives.

"The narcoterrorists responsible for this invasion are either dead, in jail, or living in fear knowing they will be next to face American justice," Trump stated, adding that the US military now holds authorisation to strike external narcoterrorist threats directly.

Detailing broader enforcement successes, the US leader noted that domestic law enforcement agencies have secured record drug confiscations, alongside increased extraditions of major cartel figures by international allies.

"We have inflicted unprecedented losses on our enemies, and we are just getting started," Trump added.