As trade talks advance, India and US hope for ‘early results’

WASHINGTON: India and the US have noted positive developments in trade talks but would like to see “early results” from their negotiators in view of the importance of economic ties for the health of the larger bilateral relationship.

“Both of us felt that while the trade issue had progressed, for the larger relationship, it was important we see some early results,” external affairs minister S Jaishankar told reporters for Indian media outlets after his meeting with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Monday.

Trade tensions between India and the US have emerged as a key irritant in an otherwise robust relationship, with US President Donald Trump complaining repeatedly about Indian tariffs on American goods and access to the Indian market.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal and US trade representative Robert Lighthizer have engaged in trade talks with renewed urgency in recent days but were unable to hammer out a mini deal that was expected to be announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s justconcluded visit to the US.

Jaishankar refrained from sharing details of the negotiations, noting they were ongoing.

Ian Bremmer, head of the Eurasia Group, who met Jaishankar in New York last week, wrote in a note on Monday that “one (of the solutions is a) ‘quick fix’ reducing tariffs, and (the other is a) broader modernisation and aligned standards pact”.

Asked about Trump’s repeated offers to mediate on Kashmir, Jaishankar said: “India has been very clear (on this) for 40-odd years, that we won’t accept mediation and that whatever has to be discussed has to be discussed bilaterally.”

“I’m clear in my mind as far as I’m concerned… whose issue (is it)? Mine.

Who has to take the call? Me. If it is my issue and I have to take the call, I will decide whether I want somebody’s mediation or not.

You can offer anything you like, but if I decide it is not relevant to me, then it doesn’t happen,” he said.