NEW DELHI – The US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi held a telephone call on Monday, the White House said.
“The leaders agreed to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership in2019 and exchanged perspectives on how to reduce the US trade deficit withIndia, expand security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific, and increasecooperation in Afghanistan,” the statement said.
The United States has slapped tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum fromIndia, part of Trump’s drive to reduce the US trade deficit and boostAmerican manufacturing jobs.
This comes while, there are reports that Trump is planning to withdraw morethan 5,000 of the 14,000 US troops there, a US official told media lastmonth.
Read Top Stories
Last week, amid reports on a possible withdrawal of American troops, Trumpat a cabinet meeting insisted on regional countries’ role in Afghanistanand said that India, Russia and Pakistan should be fighting in Afghanistan,not the United States.
