India and the United States on Wednesday said they would seek to reduce bilateral trade friction and sharp differences over New Delhi’s purchase of Russian missile defence system as visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here. Addressing a joint news conference with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar after talks between them, Pompeo promised a renewed focus on negotiating improved trade and investment ties between the two countries.
Pompeo, however, did not elaborate how India and the US would overcome disputes on issues ranging from access to Indian markets for leading American companies to New Delhi’s demands for foreign firms to store Indian data in the country and exports of steel and aluminum to the United States. Pompeo said the two countries are “friends who can help each other all around the world”. The current differences were expressed “in the spirit of friendship”, he added.
Pompeo’s meeting with Modi and Jaishankar came ahead of the Indian PM’s meeting with US President Donald Trump on the margins of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, later this week.
Pompeo and Jaishankar said they would look at ways to work through these issues, including Washington’s opposition to the $5-billion defence deal for S-400 air defence systems between India and Russia. The missile defence shield deal between India and Russia risks inviting American sanctions. Jaishankar made it clear that India would be guided by its own interests when it comes to purchasing defence systems from Russia. "We have relationships with several
countries, many of which are of some standing. They have a history. We will do what is in our national interest," he said. "We had a discussion on defence cooperation. It is important to display trust and confidence in each other if we want this to grow." The Indian External Affairs Minister said that "on some outstanding issues related to trade, I pushed for a constructive and pragmatic view. The real test of our intentions will be our ability to deal with this." He said true "maturity" lies in figuring out a solution.
Earlier this month, India imposed retaliatory tariffs on 28 US items after the Donald Trump administration ended trade concessions under the Generalized System of Preferences for India on June 1. Pompeo insisted the US deserves greater market access in India. In trade, India has introduced a new e-commerce rules for foreign investors in February that has angered the Americans multinational giants like Walmart and Amazon. Walmart last year invested $16 billion to buy control of Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart.
Jaishankar, a former Indian ambassador to the United States, played down the trade friction with the US. “If you trade with someone and they are your biggest trading partner, it is impossible you don’t have trade issues,” he said. The missile deal with Russia and India’s purchase of Iranian oil were discussed during their meeting, Jaishankar and Pompeo said, but mentioned no resolution of either at the news conference.
Pompeo met Modi this morning for talks at his official residence in New Delhi. “The Prime Minister reiterated the priority that he attaches to relations with the U.S. and outlined his vision for the strategic partnership in the new tenure of the government and beyond, building on strong foundation of trust and shared interest,” the Indian External Affairs Ministry said in a statement without elaborating.
Pompeo, it said, expressed “the U.S government’s continued interest in building stronger relations with India and working together to realize the shared vision and goals.” Modi “expressed his strong commitment to achieve the full potential of bilateral relations in trade and economy, energy, defence, counter terrorism and people-to-people contacts,” according to the statement.