Trump meets Rajnath and Jaishankar, discusses Indo-US ties

Donald Trump has met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the White House during which the US President was very positive and enthusiastic about the various aspects of the bilateral relations.

During the meeting, which lasted for over 30 minutes in the Oval Office, the president recalled his joint appearance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 'Howdy Modi' event in Houston in September.

"With President Trump (the meeting) was largely in the nature of a courtesy call," Jaishankar said Thursday before concluding his three-day visit to Washington DC to attend the 2+2 meeting.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper hosted Jaishankar and Singh for the 2+2 dialogue at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department on Wednesday.

During the courtesy call on Trump, Jaishankar said that there were discussions on the progress of various issues that matter to both the countries.

"There was little discussion on trade," the minister said, adding that he and Singh shared with President Trump some of the key highlights of the 2+2 meeting.

Jaishankar said the president was very positive about the relationship and enthusiastic about the various aspects.

The issue of trade came up as part of the larger agenda, he said in response to a question.

The meeting took place on a day when Trump was impeached by the US House of Representatives.