Trump, Modi speak frequently as trade talks continue: White House

(Reuters) - United States President Donald Trump speaks often with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and trade teams from both countries continue to hold talks, the White House said on Tuesday.

“The president and his trade team continue to be in very serious discussions with India,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

“I know the president has great respect for Prime Minister Modi, and they speak pretty frequently.”

Trump said last week in South Korea that he wanted to reach a trade deal with India — signalling a thaw in relations that soured to their lowest point in decades after the US president doubled tariffs on Indian imports to 50 per cent as punishment for India’s purchases of Russian oil.

Indian refiners cut Russian oil imports after Washington imposed sanctions last week on Moscow’s top two crude exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil.

Earlier this month, Trump claimed that Modi has agreed to cut Russian oil imports — something New Delhi has not commented on. A White House official said New Delhi had halved its purchases of Russian oil, but Indian sources said no immediate reduction had been seen.

On October 31, the US and India signed a 10-year defence framework agreement.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth termed the agreement a “cornerstone for regional stability and deterrence”. “We’re enhancing our coordination, information sharing and tech cooperation,” he had said.

Days before that, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Malaysia, where the two discussed bilateral ties as well as “regional and global issues”.