India and the United States have built close political and security ties and Trump's two-day trip is a sign of their converging interests and a way to counter China's rise as a superpower, officials say.
Trump landed in the western city of Ahmedabad, the political home of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to a raucous welcome, at the start of a two-day trip that will also take him to the Taj Mahal in Agra and Delhi for official meetings.
Modi embraced Trump he stepped off Air Force One, along with his wife, Melania.
Modi tweeted an old Indian saying in response: "The guest is God."
Folk dancers carrying colourful umbrellas danced alongside the red carpet as drummers, trumpeters and other musicians performed on the airport grounds to welcome Trump and the U.S. delegation.
Hopes that the world's two largest democracies could negotiate a "confidence building" deal in time for Trump's arrival have faded in recent days as differences over agriculture, medical devices, digital trade and proposed new tariffs fester, according to business groups.
US concerns that led last year to the suspension of India's tariff-free access for some $5.6 billion in exports under the 1970s-era Generalised System of Preferences still remain, US officials say.
The cavalcade's route as it snaked through the city was thronged by tens of thousands of curious onlookers, keen to catch a glimpse of Trump and Modi.
The duo together garlanded an image of Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi after stopping briefly to visit his former home, Sabarmati Ashram,
NAMASTE TRUMP
Trump will be feted at a reception in a 110,000-seat cricket stadium in the city. A huge crowd filled the stadium, claimed to be the world's biggest cricket ground.
In the stadium, many people were wearing customised white hats saying "Namaste (Greetings) Trump", while workers handed out thousands of cardboard masks of the US president.
The rally will be a larger version of the "Howdy Modi" rally that Trump and Modi jointly appeared at in Houston to a jubilant crowd of 50,000 Indian Americans last year, where Trump likened Modi to Elvis Presley for his crowd-pulling power.
Trump, who seeks re-election in November, routinely gets the biggest audience of any candidate in the US presidential race, ranging up to 20,000 or so, and he has been grudgingly admiring of Modi’s ability to get a bigger crowd than him.
Many roads were blocked off in Ahmedabad, shops shut and police stationed on rooftops and balconies. School children boarded buses bound for the stadium shouting "We love Trump." Others were carrying Indian flags.
"I have been here since 7 a.m. I don't know how many I have handed out," said Durvin Prajapati, a 19-year-old volunteer who was standing on the stadium concourse with a box of two thousand Trump masks. "We like Trump: he is good for business"
From Ahmedabad, he heads to Agra for a sunset visit to the iconic Taj Mahal mausoleum, before landing in New Delhi for a summit with Indian officials and business leaders.
Modi's government has sought restoration of trade concessions that Trump withdrew in 2019 and greater access to U.S. markets for its pharmaceutical and farm products.
The two countries are expected to announce defence deals including an Indian navy plan to buy helicopters from Lockheed Martin worth $2.6 billion.