Trump hints at India-US trade deal coming soon, says he has 'great respect for PM Modi'
US President Donald Trump praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday as the "nicest looking guy" and said that he has great respect for him, while he asserted that India and the US are going to do a trade deal soon. Trump made the remarks while speaking at the APEC CEOs Luncheon in South Korea's Gyeongju. Although the US President again repeated his claim of brokering the India-Pakistan ceasefire, which New Delhi has repeatedly rejected.
"I'm doing a trade deal with India, and I have great respect and love for Prime Minister Modi. We have a great relationship. Likewise, the Prime Minister of Pakistan is a great guy. They have a Field Marshal. You know why he's a Field Marshal? He's a great fighter. And so I know them all. I'm reading that seven planes were shot down. These are two nuclear nations. And they're really going at it..." he said during his address.
The President went on to speak of his great relationship with both New Delhi and Islamabad. He further said that he had told both leaders that the United States would not move ahead with any trade agreements while the two countries remained in conflict. He said, I called Prime Minister Modi and said we cannot make a trade deal with you while you are fighting with Pakistan. Then I called Pakistan and said the same thing.
Trump has previously made similar claims of attempting to mediate between India and Pakistan after a brief conflict in May this year, a claim that New Delhi has consistently denied, maintaining that the ceasefire was reached bilaterally.
India-US trade talks Last week, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that India does not rush into trade agreements or enter them "with a gun to our head." He said India is currently holding active negotiations on trade pacts with several countries and blocs, including the European Union and the United States.
"We are in active dialogue with the EU. We are talking to the US, but we do not do deals in a hurry, and we do not do deals with deadlines or with a gun to our head," he said at the Berlin Global Dialogue in Germany on October 24.
He added that any trade agreement should be approached with a long-term perspective. Goyal also said that India is seeking new markets to counter the impact of high tariffs.
The US has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on India as a penalty for purchasing oil from Russia. This is in addition to the existing 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods entering the US market, meaning Indian exports are currently facing about 50 per cent additional import duties.
