Indo-US relations on upward trajectory, 'sharper edges' in trade ties will be addressed: Jaishankar

Indo-US relations have been on an upward trajectory and are in a very good health, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, asserting that trade issues and the "sharper edges" which the media has reported will be addressed in the "not too distant future".

Addressing the 100-day press conference of the Ministry of External Affairs, he said the "trajectory" of the relationship between India and the US has been "upwards" amid various administrations in Washington, be it Bush, Obama and now Trump.

Responding to a question on commerce, he said the trade problem between the two countries is "normal".

Regarding trade relations, the minister was of the view that "it's a glass 90 per cent full rather than 10 per cent empty".

"As relationship grows, there will be problems ... the only way you don't have trade problems is when you do not trade," he said.

According to Jaishankar, the government had been engaging for months with the US to try and resolve some of the "sharper edges" in trade relations which the media has reported will be addressed in the not too distant future.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the US from September 21-27.

Jaishankar said in partnership with the Indian diaspora, Modi addressed events in San Jose in 2015 and Madison Square in New York in 2014, and the September 22 event at Houston will be the third.

He said the Indo-US relations are in very good health.

"There is no facet of the relationship today which has not gone upward over the period of 20 years," he said.

Referring to the decision of US President Donald Trump to attend the 'Howdy Modi' event, Jaishankar said, "I regard this as a great achievement of the Indo-US community."
"If today there is an event of this size and you have someone like President Trump coming there, I think this shows where that community reached,, how it is regarded in the US, the respect that it commands out there. In many ways I think it is obviously an achievement of the community. Having said that, the community stands more motivated, more inspired, more united by the fact that Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister. I have every expectation, having seen and participated in the earlier two events that this too would be extremely successful."