Seoul: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that the US is “doing a trade deal with India” as the two sides continue to hold talks on the proposed trade pact.
While speaking at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) CEO Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, Trump added that he had great “respect and love” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“If you look at India and Pakistan … so, I’m doing a trade deal with India and I have great respect and love, as you know, for Prime Minister Modi, we have a great relationship,” Trump said.
However, without elaborating further on the subject of the trade deal, Trump once again shifted to his claims of resolving the conflict between India and Pakistan in early May.
Trump’s comment came at a time when the relations between New Delhi and Washington have been reeling under severe strain after Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, including an additional 25 per cent levies for its procurement of Russian crude oil.
India described the US action as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable”.
It is understood that Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio broadly delved into the proposed trade pact between the two sides during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Monday on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
However, there was no indication that the US side assured India of removing the 25 per cent tariff slapped for its energy ties with Russia.
In the last couple of weeks, US President Donald Trump claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him that India would stop buying Russian crude oil. Following Trump’s first claim, India suggested that there was no such conversation.
The Ministry of External Affairs said on October 16 that energy sourcing is being broad-based and diversified, including an expansion in procurement from the US.
It said India’s energy purchases are guided solely by the objective of safeguarding the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario, and the twin goals of India’s energy policy are ensuring stable energy prices and secure supplies.
However, according to an official, a proposed bilateral trade deal between India and the US is “very near” to concluding.
“We are very near as far as the deal is concerned,” the official said last week.
In the Berlin Global Dialogue, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal last week said India will not do any deal in a hurry or with a “gun to our head”.
Five rounds of talks have been completed so far for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement between the US and India.
