Trump-Modi meeting may happen next month: Indian Express

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the United States next September to attend the UN General Assembly session. He is likely to meet US President Donald Trump at that time. This news has been reported in a report by Indian Express. The report says that the UN General Assembly session will begin in New York on September 9. Modi will attend the session. Besides, the main objective of the visit will be to meet US President Donald Trump. The aim is to reach a solution on trade-related issues and tariffs. The report also says that the visit will provide an opportunity for the two leaders to announce a trade deal. Trump has increased the tariff on India’s oil purchases from Russia to 50 percent. Of this, 25 percent duty came into effect from last Thursday (August 7). The remaining 25 percent will come into effect from August 27. After that, Trump ruled out the possibility of new trade talks with India. Asked if he expected more talks after the announcement of additional tariffs, he said, “No more talks until the current tensions are resolved.” New Delhi began talks with Washington for a trade deal after imposing a 25 percent tariff in the first round. The two sides were close to signing a trade deal. However, President Trump was not satisfied with the agreement. Trade talks between New Delhi and Washington collapsed after five rounds of talks over disagreements over opening up India’s vast agriculture and dairy sectors and stopping purchases of Russian oil. Trump then increased the tariffs to 50 percent. On Tuesday (August 12), US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said that trade deals with several large countries, including Switzerland and India, were still waiting to be concluded. However, New Delhi was “somewhat adamant” on its terms in talks with Washington. Besant said he hoped the Trump administration would be able to conclude their trade talks by the end of October. So the negotiators will have to discuss the terms of the deal further.