NEW DELHI: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to play down heightened trade tension with India on Wednesday. He emphasized on a renewed focus on negotiating better ties, but giving few specifics of how they would overcome their disputes over trade and investment.
Pompeo’s India visit comes as the two countries are face to face on issues ranging from access to Indian markets for American firms to New Delhi’s demand for foreign companies to store Indian data in the country, and exports of steel and aluminum to the U.S.
The two nations are “friends who can help each other all around the world,” Pompeo told a joint news conference with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The current differences were those of between the two friends, he added.
However, any progress on trade would probably be announced at an expected meeting of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump at a Group of 20 (G20) summit in Japan this week. India’s ties with Russia and Iran, both now subject to U.S. sanctions, are also a sore point between US and India relations.(Agencies)
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