By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi office on Wednesday announced that he is likely to meet US President Donald Trump at the UN General Assembly next month to discuss key bilateral and global issues.
The General Assembly begins on Sept 9, but the annual meeting of heads of state and government will be held from Sept 23-29.
The speculations are rife that a key objective of the meeting will be to hold talks with Trump and resolve trade and tariff issues that have led to some eroding of ties between the two countries.
The development came after US had put an additional tariff of 25 % on Indian goods as a penalty for continuing to buy oil from Russia.
The new penalty pushed the total tariff on Indian exports to the U.S. to 50%—one of the steepest rates applied to any American trading partner.
Trade negotiations between New Delhi and Washington broke down after 5 rounds, with sticking points including access to India’s farm and dairy markets and its continued purchase of Russian oil.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said several major trade deals, including those with Switzerland and India, remained pending, added that New Delhi had been “a bit recalcitrant” in its negotiations with Washington.
