THE US and India are “pretty close” to making a trade deal, which will be much different than the earlier pacts, US President Donald Trump said here. Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said India and the US were pretty close to making a trade deal. “They want to make a deal. We’re going to make a deal. Pretty close, yeah,” Trump said in response to a question.

 

“It’s going to be a much different kind of deal than we’ve done,” the president said. Trump’s remarks came at a time Secretary of State Marco Rubio was visiting India and discussed further strengthening bilateral relations focussing on sectors such as trade, energy, technology, defence and people-to-people ties. Trump did not elaborate on what would make the proposed agreement different from previous arrangements. He also did not specify a date for concluding negotiations or identify the remaining issues preventing a final agreement.