by Pankaj Yadav
NEW DELHI, June 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left India Thursday after completing a three-day official visit to the country, the first high-level interaction between Washington and the second successive Modi government.
Pompeo and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar tried to set the tone of a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump later this week in Osaka on the sidelines of G-20 Summit, but analysts said their differences lingered on even after their meeting lasted over three hours.
The major issues on the table were bilateral trade and the increased tariffs on each other's products. Other issues included India's oil imports from Iran, U.S.' withdrawal of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), India's S-400 defence deal with Russia, besides global issues such as situation in Afghanistan and the Gulf, and terrorism.
In a nutshell, India clearly told Pompeo that it was firm on its S-400 defence deal with Russia, and expressed its resolve to address the trade issues pending with the U.S.
The GSP allowed duty free export of over 3,000 products from India to the U.S., which had announced withdrawal of GSP with effect from June 5. Reacting to the U.S. decision, the country's Commerce and Industry Ministry had stated that it was "unfortunate" that the resolution offered by New Delhi on the matter was not acceptable to Washington.
Thereafter, India announced a hike in tariff on as many as 28 products, including almond, pulses and walnut imported from the U.S. This was also seen in retaliation to higher tariffs imposed by Washington on Indian products like steel and aluminum.
In a sharp reaction to India's hike in tariffs and hours ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Modi (in Osaka), Trump on Thursday described the move as "unacceptable" and asked for withdrawal of the hiked tariffs.
"I look forward to speaking with Prime Minister Modi about the fact that India, for years having put very high tariffs against the United States, just recently increased the tariffs even further. This is unacceptable and the tariffs must be withdrawn!" he tweeted.
Not succumbing to the U.S. pressure on India in not going ahead on S-400 deal with Russia, Jaishankar has told Pompeo in no uncertain terms that "India will be guided by its own national interests."
"We have relationships with several countries, many of which are of some standing. They have a history. We will do what is in our national interest," Jaishankar said after coming out of the meeting with Pompeo.
The two senior officials also discussed bilateral defence cooperation. "We had a discussion on defence cooperation. It is important to display trust and confidence in each other if we want this to grow," Jaishankar told the media.
In the recent past, the Trump administration had threatened India with sanctions if it went ahead on the S-400 Missiles deal with Russia, which was signed last year. The U.S. has cited "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)," in respect of which New Delhi has sought a waiver. The issue is still caught in diplomatic crossfire between the two sides.
Pending trade issues between India and the U.S. assume significance, even as the latter is the former's major trading partner. In the words of Jaishankar, "When you have trade, you will have issues. The real test of our intention is to address them effectively."
"Great friends are bound to have disagreements. The U.S. has been closely seeking greater market access and the removal of trade barriers in our economic relationships and today I address these differences in the spirit of friendship and I think two of us will be able to see a good outcome for each of our two countries," Pompeo said, without concealing their differences.
While parleys were going on between Jaishankar and Pompeo, India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in the Parliament that the country's government was negotiating with the U.S. on the issue of withdrawing the GSP to Indian business houses.
According to him, India exported goods to America worth over 50 billion U.S. dollars and the GSP benefits were given to an export basket worth 6 billion U.S. dollars.
Meanwhile, Pompeo told an English daily "The Times of India" that he was hopeful that Modi and Trump would make India-U.S. relationship work.
"These two leaders have a chance to execute it. So, I feel a real responsibility and know Jaishankar feels the same. We will protect our own interests, but we will work together," he said.
"We have challenges on trade, on S-400. We will work through those. But if we can focus on the big opportunities we can grow our two economies and be two important partners in two different parts of the world," Pompeo said.