Daijiworld Media Network - Washington

Washington, Oct 21: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said India and the United States were close to finalising a trade agreement, adding that the proposed pact would be significantly different from previous deals between the two countries.

Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump expressed confidence that an agreement would be reached soon.

“They want to make a deal. We're going to make a deal. Pretty close, yeah,” he said when asked about the progress of the negotiations.

Trump added that the agreement would be “a much different kind of deal” than those concluded earlier.

His remarks came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was visiting India to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations, with a focus on trade, energy, technology, defence and people-to-people ties.

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer earlier this month in Milwaukee and Washington to discuss key aspects of the proposed agreement.

India and the US had announced in February the finalisation of a framework for the first phase of their Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). However, changes in US tariff policies have necessitated further negotiations on the proposed pact.

During his visit, Rubio urged India to expand energy trade and increase its purchases of American technologies and systems. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hosted the US secretary for wide-ranging discussions following his arrival in Mumbai for his second visit to India in less than five months.

The discussions took place amid strains in bilateral relations over US trade policies and tighter immigration rules.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, both countries welcomed the progress made in negotiations on the Bilateral Trade Agreement and reaffirmed their commitment to working towards its early conclusion.

Ahead of his meeting with Jaishankar, Rubio described India as a crude oil refining “superpower” and advocated for India to process more Venezuelan crude oil. He was also scheduled to visit the Jamnagar refinery owned by Reliance Industries Ltd on Wednesday.

Speaking about the trade agreement, Rubio said a small number of issues remained to be resolved and expressed hope that the pact would be concluded shortly.

Following their meeting, Jaishankar said the two sides had exchanged views on further strengthening bilateral ties, particularly in trade, energy, technology, defence and people-to-people relations.

The US State Department said the discussions also covered regional and global developments, including the situation in West Asia.