New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed prospects for increasing cooperation in Afghanistan, the India-US strategic partnership, trade deficit, cooperation in defence, and security issues in a telephonic conversation late Monday, according to statements from the two countries.
The two leaders “expressed satisfaction at the progress in India-US strategic partnership in 2018. They appreciated developments such as the launch of the new 2+2 Dialogue mechanism and the first-ever Trilateral Summit of India, the US and Japan,” said India in a statement.
“The two leaders took positive note of growing bilateral cooperation in defence, counter-terrorism and energy and coordination on regional and global issues. They agreed to continue to work together for further strengthening India-US bilateral relations in 2019,” it added.
A White House readout added that the two leaders “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.”
President Trump has been seeking a more active role for India in Afghanistan beyond reconstruction — deploying troops to fight the Taliban.
In recent remarks, the US president had seemingly belittled India’s reconstruction efforts stating that a library reportedly built in Afghanistan by India was not being used by anyone.