Doing trade deal with India, Trump confirms

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he is “doing a trade deal with India”, raising hopes that an in-the-works agreement between the two countries would be finalised soon.

- HT Correspondent

His comments came ona day the US and South Korea came close to finalising a trade deal, and ahead of a Thursday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping that is expected to see the two sides resolve at least some of their trade differences.

After noting that he had signed “groundbreaking agreements” with Malaysia, Cambodia and Japan during his ongoing visit to Asia, Trump told the APEC CEO Summit in South Korea “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's remarks came against the backdrop of renewed contacts between Indian and US officials in recent weeks for negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement. Talks on the trade deal stalled after Trump hit Indian goods with 25% reciprocal tariffs in the summer, and followed it up with a 25% penalty over Russian oil purchases.

Trump also repeated his claims about using trade to end the hostilities between India and Pakistan in May at the business summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, attended by global CEOs, experts and senior economic leaders.

Beijing confirmed talks between Xi and Trump would take place in South Korea's Busan, with the US leader telling reporters "a lot of problems are going to be solved" at the "great meeting".

Discussions between New Delhi and Washington resumed after US assistant trade representative Brendan Lynch held talks with Indian officials in New Delhi on September 16 and this was followed by a visit by US ambassador-designate Sergio Gor, a close aide of Trump who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The trade discussions also figured in recent visits to the US by external affairs minister S Jaishankar and commerce minister Piyush Goyal.