Pompeo visits India amid tensions
Both sides downplay trade, tariff disputes
NEW DELHI — The U.S. secretary of state and his Indian counterpart downplayed disagreements over trade and tariffs Wednesday, arguing that the two countries can work through their issues.
Mike Pompeo held meetings in India’s capital with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and later with foreign minister S. Jaishankar amid tensions over trade that have strained bilateral ties.
Pompeo acknowledged that the two countries have some differences.
“Great friends are bound to have disagreements,” Pompeo told reporters after meeting with Jaishankar. “The United States has been clear we seek greater market access and the removal of trade barriers.”
Jaishankar said there was a “need to filter through the noise and get down to the basics of the relationship.”
Pompeo arrived Tuesday in New Delhi after visiting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan on a trip aimed at building a coalition to counter Iran.
His visit is the first by a high-level U.S. official since Modi’s re-election last month. The countries call each other strategic partners despite retaliatory tariffs they imposed on some goods this month.
Pompeo’s visit comes ahead of a planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Modi on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Japan later this week.
Indian officials say they have few differences with the U.S. over political and strategic issues including on Iran but have cautioned the two countries need to be careful on trade and commerce.
India stopped oil purchases from Iran after a U.S. sanctions waiver ran out in May, but Indian officials have continued working for a renewal of the waiver amid tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
Pompeo said that the two leaders didn’t discuss a lifting of waivers but they agreed to work through the problems.
He said later Wednesday that the U.S. appreciated India’s efforts in cutting of oil from Iran, and “we’re doing everything we can to ensure you’ve adequate crude imports.”
On Iran, Pompeo repeated that Tehran “is the world’s largest state sponsor of terror” and that the Strait of Hormuz needs to be kept open.