Trump Praises PM Modi's Opium Crackdown As India Remains On US Drug List

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts against opium production, even as India remains designated on the US list of "major illicit drug producing or drug transit" countries.

"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", the US Department of State said in a statement.

The United States listed India along with Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela as major illicit drug producing or transit countries for 2027.

The US clarified that being on the list does not mean a government has failed to fight drugs. Instead, countries are included because of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that make them natural transit or production hubs, even if their governments have strict and active anti-narcotics enforcement in place.

Trump Claims Major Gains Against Drug Trafficking

Trump, meanwhile, highlighted what he described as "historic progress" by his administration in tackling drug trafficking and narcoterrorist organisations.

He pointed to tighter border security, lower drug seizures and a decline in overdose deaths as evidence of the progress.

Trump claimed drug seizures along the US southern border had dropped by more than half after what he called four years of "open border chaos". He also said drug overdose deaths had "plunged" and claimed that the administration had saved 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 said.

The Republican leader said that US military is "unleashed" to strike narcoterrorists if they threaten America. 

Trump also said US law enforcement agencies had achieved "record drug seizures", while claiming that allied countries were extraditing more cartel leaders to the US than ever before.

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