US President Donald Trump has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration for its crackdown on opium cultivation, while India continues to remain on Washington’s list of major illicit drug-producing and transit nations.

In an official statement, the US Department of State highlighted Trump’s endorsement of India’s measures to curb opium poppy cultivation and strengthen supply chain integrity.

The President expressed optimism about continued cooperation under the United States-India Drug Policy Framework.

For the year 2027, the United States has placed India alongside more than twenty other countries on its designated list of major drug-producing or transit nations.

This roster includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela. American officials clarified that inclusion on the list does not necessarily indicate failure by national governments to combat narcotics. Instead, countries are featured due to geographical, commercial, and agricultural realities that make them natural hubs or transit corridors, regardless of domestic enforcement efforts.

Trump shifted focus to domestic and hemispheric security, emphasising what he described as historic progress by his administration in dismantling drug cartels and narcoterrorism networks.

He pointed to stricter border controls, claiming that drug interceptions along the US southern border had fallen by more than half compared to what he termed four years of open-border instability under previous policies. He further asserted that national overdose fatalities had sharply decreased, attributing these developments to the preservation of tens of thousands of American lives.

The President declared that narco-terrorists responsible for what he called an invasion were either dead, imprisoned, or living in fear of imminent American justice. He added that the US military now holds authorisation to strike external narco-terrorist threats directly.

Trump also detailed broader enforcement successes, noting record drug confiscations by domestic law enforcement agencies and increased extraditions of major cartel figures through cooperation with international allies. He concluded by stating that unprecedented losses had been inflicted on America’s enemies and that his administration was only beginning its campaign against them.

ANI