Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed trade issues over the phone on Wednesday, the crucial conversation coming days ahead of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur from October 26-27 where a bilateral meeting is likely between the two leaders if they make it to the event.

Incidentally, it will be the first meeting between Modi and Trump since the US imposed steep 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, including 25 per cent for buying Russian crude oil.

In his remarks following the call, Trump described the India-US relationship as “great” and said, without elaborating, that the two sides were working on some “great deals”.

In a social media post, Prime Minister Modi thanked Trump for the phone call and his Diwali greetings and hoped that both India and the US wou

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