Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Donald Trump discussed reducing the trade deficit between their countries and increasing cooperation in Afghanistan in a telephone call on Monday, Reuters reported.
“The leaders agreed to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership in 2019 and exchanged perspectives on how to reduce the US trade deficit with India, expand security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, and increase cooperation in Afghanistan,” the White House said in a statement.
The two leaders also took positive note of the growing bilateral cooperation in defence, counter-terrorism, and energy and coordination on regional and global issues, ANI reported. They agreed to continue to work towards further strengthening bilateral ties in 2019.
Last year, the Indian government had announced higher duties on several goods imported from the US in retaliation to Trump’s decision to impose hefty tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
In August last year, the US had imposed a preliminary anti-dumping duty of 50.55% on metal pipes imported from India, China and four other countries in a move to protect the American steel industry and lower trade deficit.
Last month, the Trump administration announced it would withdraw nearly 7,000 troops from Afghanistan. An unidentified senior defence official had said the move was an effort to make Afghan forces more reliant on their own troops.
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