Trump hails ‘special’ ties with Modi

NEW DELHI: President Donald Trump said he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India had made progress toward what he hopes will be a landmark trade agreement between the two economic giants. But there was no breakthrough to announce after formal talks on the second and final day of the president’s visit, as Mr Trump complained about steep Indian tariffs.

A joint public appearance by the two leaders was long on florid language about the strength of their relationship and short on results. While Mr Trump had said before departing the United States that “we may make a tremendous deal there”, the two sides appeared far apart on major points of a trade pact.

“Our teams have made tremendous progress on a comprehensive trade agreement, and I’m optimistic we can reach a deal that will be of great importance to both countries,” Mr Trump told reporters.

Speaking at a news conference a few hours later, he diverged from the sunny rhetoric that had characterised his appearances with Mr Modi over the past two days, saying India maintained unfairly high tariffs on American goods, including HarleyDavidson motorcycles. “We’re being charged large amounts of tariffs, and they can’t do that,” Mr Trump said. “I want reciprocal. The United States has to be treated fairly.”

Such complaints were absent earlier in the day when the leaders appeared in the lush garden of Hyderabad House, the iconic building typically used to host foreign leaders. Mr Trump and Mr Modi celebrated a series of modest agreements that were set before the visit, including a $3 billion (95.5 billion baht) arms purchase and a letter of cooperation between Exxon Mobil and India’s energy sector.

They agreed to create a joint counternarcotics working group to reduce opioid abuse. “We think we’re at a point where our relationship is so special with India, it has never been as good as it is now,” Mr Trump said.