Pompeo meets Indian leaders amid trade tensions, Iran crisis
The US secretary of state and his Indian counterpart
downplayed growing disagreements over trade and tariffs on Wednesday, arguing
that the two countries can work through their issues.
Mike Pompeo held meetings in India’s capital with Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and later with foreign minister S. Jaishankar amid
growing tensions over trade that have strained bilateral ties.
Pompeo acknowledged that the two countries have some
differences.
“Great friends are bound to have disagreements,” Pompeo told
reporters after meeting with Jaishankar. “The United States has been clear we
seek greater market access and the removal of trade barriers.”
Jaishankar said there was a “need to filter through the
noise and get down to the basics of the relationship.”
Pompeo arrived in New Delhi late Tuesday after visiting
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan on a trip aimed at
building a global coalition to counter Iran.
His visit is the first by a high-level US official since
Modi’s reelection last month. The countries call each other strategic partners
despite retaliatory tariffs they imposed on some goods this month.
India imposed tariffs on 28 American products including
walnuts and almonds on June 16 in retaliation for the US ending India’s
preferential trade status on June 1. The Trump administration imposed higher
duties on Indian products including aluminum and steel.
Another irritant in their relationship is India’s plan to
purchase Russia’s S-400 air defense system. US has shown reservations about the
deal. But still the US has become India’s top defense supplier in the last two
years. India’s trade with the US has also seen steady growth and is currently
about $150 billion annually.
Pompeo’s visit comes ahead of a planned meeting between
President Donald Trump and Modi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in
Japan later this week.
Indian officials say they have few differences with the US
over political and strategic issues including on Iran, but have cautioned the
two countries need to be careful on trade and commerce.
India stopped oil purchases from Iran after a US sanctions
waiver ran out in May, but Indian officials have continued working for a
renewal of the waiver amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran. Indian
officials say they understand the US concerns regarding Iran, but their country
has taken an economic hit.
Jaishankar said global energy supplies should remain stable,
predictable and affordable. “I think that’s a concern to which Secretary Pompeo
was certainly very, very receptive. I think he understands that this is today
the world’s fifth largest economy, which imports 85% of its energy, a large
part of it from the Gulf. So I think he certainly gets... what our interests
are,” he said.
Pompeo said the two leaders didn’t discuss a lifting of
waivers but they agreed to work through the problems.
On Iran, Pompeo repeated that Tehran “is the world’s largest
state sponsor of terror” and that the Strait of Hormuz needs to be kept open.
“There’s a shared understanding of threat and a common
purpose to ensure that we can keep that energy at the right prices, and deter
this threat, not only the threat in the narrow confines of the Middle East, but
the threat that this terror regime poses to the entire world,” he said.
Indian foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said Pompeo
and Modi exchanged “views on various aspects of the Indo-US relationship.”
“Working together to further deepen our strategic
partnership,” Kumar tweeted.
Before Pompeo’s arrival in India, hundreds of supporters of
left-wing groups marched in central New Delhi to protest his visit and denounce
American policies in the Middle East. They urged the Indian government not to
cut off imports of oil from Iran, as the US has demanded.
Pran Sharma, a protester, said there was a “bigger game”
behind “the trade war” between India and the US.
“That is the invasion of Iran, for which it (the US) is
making preparations. How it can get cooperation from India?” he said.