Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed hope that India’s Commerce Minister and the US Trade Representative (USTR) will soon meet to discuss strengthening of bilateral trade ties for mutual benefit.

This was conveyed to the US President Donald Trump during their 30-minute-long telephonic conversation that covered bilateral and regional matters.

The conversation was marked by the warmth and cordiality which characterises the relations between the two leaders, said an official statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday evening. During the telephonic conversation, Modi recalled their meeting in Osaka on the margins of G-20 summit in end-June earlier this year. Modi’s remarks on trade ties are significant as it came on the heels of Trump’s allegation that India was no more a developing country and was taking advantage of the tag from the WTO.

However, India has refrained from reacting to the US President’s recent statement on the country’s non-eligibility of developing country status.

US and India’s trade ties have been strained for some time with Washington imposing unilateral duties on steel and aluminium exported from India last year . The US had also withdrawn the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) benefits for Indian exports earlier this year. On its part, India had imposed retaliatory duties on 28 items imported from the US which includes apples, walnuts and chemicals.

Regional situation

Meanwhile, in the context of the regional situation, Modi said that extreme rhetoric and incitement to anti-India violence by certain leaders in the region was not conducive to peace. He highlighted the importance of creating an environment free from terror and violence and eschewing cross-border terrorism without exception.

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