New Delhi [India], April 9 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his US counterpart Marco Rubio held a telephonic conversation and discussed several issues, including regional developments, international developments and importance of early conclusion of the bilateral trade agreement, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated on Wednesday.

Marco Rubio held talks with S Jaishankar on Monday (local time). When asked about talks between Jaishankar and Rubio during the press briefing, Jaiswal stated, 'He discussed several issues. We also had a put out discussion points, which included a conversation on West Asia, regional developments, and some international developments. They also discussed the importance of the early conclusion of the bilateral trade agreement. So, that was more or less what comprised the discussions between two leaders.'

Jaishankar took to X after his talks with Rubio, stating that both had exchanged views on various geopolitical issues, including the Indo-Pacific, the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Middle East/West Asia and the Caribbean.

'Good to speak with Secretary Marco Rubio today. Exchanged perspectives on the Indo-Pacific, the Indian Sub-continent, Europe, Middle East/West Asia and the Caribbean. Agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of the Bilateral Trade Agreement. Look forward to remaining in touch,' Jaishankar said in a post on X on April 7.

According to a statement from the US State Department spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, both leaders spoke on the progress of a fair and balanced trade relationship between the two nations amid the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, which had disrupted the global markets since its announcement.

Marco and Jaishankar emphasised the strength of the US-India strategic partnership, with both sides exploring opportunities to expand collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region.

'Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar today. The Secretary and External Affairs Minister affirmed the strength of the U.S.-India strategic partnership and discussed opportunities to deepen collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region. They also discussed U.S. reciprocal tariffs on India and how to make progress toward a fair and balanced trade relationship,' the statement read.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar responded to the debate over tariffs imposed by Trump. Speaking at the News 18 Rising Bharat Summit, Jaishankar said that India's strategy was clear and that it would engage with the United States on a bilateral trade agreement, which could conclude by the fall of this year.

When asked about India's strategy for dealing with tariffs and their impact, the EAM said, 'I don't think it is possible to speak about the impact because we don't know.'Jaishankar said that India's strategy has been to engage with the US in fructifying the bilateral trade agreement.

Jaishankar said, 'Our strategy is pretty clear; we decided that we will engage the Trump administration earlier on these set of issues, and we were very open with them, constructive with them as they were with us. What we agreed to do was try to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement by the fall of this year.'

He further added, 'To the best of my knowledge, and I could be corrected here, I think we are the only country after President Trump has resumed the presidency the second time, which has actually reached such an understanding in principle.'

Jaishankar noted that as every country is tariffed, each is fashioning its own strategy to deal with the US.'In our case, our strategy has a goal, which is to see whether it is possible to actually deal with this situation by concluding a bilateral trade agreement, and I should add that in an interesting way, this has long been our objective.'

With the tariffs in place, Jaishankar underscored that the present situation may have created the circumstances for such a serious conversation, but India had been pursuing a trade deal even during President Trump's first term.

He highlighted, 'So from the Indian perspective, working out a bilateral deal with the United States is not a negative or unwanted situation, on the contrary, it is something which has long been our objective'.

The EAM said that since PM Modi's visit to the US, bilateral trade negotiations have sped up and seen multiple rounds of engagement. 'We've had more discussions with the Americans in the last six weeks than I suspect we've had with the Europeans in the last two years,' he said. (ANI)