Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:
Friends, good afternoon, Namaskar and welcome to this special briefing from New York on Prime Minister’s visit for the UNGA. We just concluded a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister and President Trump and I have with me the Foreign Secretary of India, Shri
Vijay Gokhale who will brief you on the bilateral meeting between the two leaders. Sir, over to you.
Foreign Secretary, Shri Vijay Gokhale: Friends, Prime Minister met President Trump a short while ago at the UN Organization headquarters in New York. This is the fourth engagement that the two leaders had had in as many
months after meeting in Osaka, in Biarritz and of course President Trump’s participation at the event in Houston on Sunday.
Essentially we are therefore building on the conversations that the two leaders have already had over the last few meeting and the objective of this bilateral meeting was to see how we could progress the relationship and deepen it further. As you know the
two leaders share an excellent rapport. Those of you who were present at the press play before the meeting heard the President say that relations have never been better and the Prime Minister and the President also enjoy a good relationship and that relationship
translates into a broader understanding between the two countries.
After the press withdrew the two leaders began with the discussion on trade issues. These are issues which both sides consider important as you know we have made significant progress in terms of both growing the trade between the two countries in the last
three years or four years and in terms of reducing the trade deficit as well. In fact perhaps among the top ten trading countries India is the only country where trade has both grown with the United States and the trade deficit has also reduced.
Now, both leaders reviewed the discussions that are ongoing. The Commerce and Industry Minister Mr. Piyush Goyal has specially travelled to New York over the weekend. He has been having discussions with US Trade Representative Lighthizer. Significant progress
has been made on a number of issues and we have narrowed the areas of difference. The two leaders therefore felt that they were optimistic in terms of us reaching some kind of a trade agreement in the near future and discussions will continue in this regard.
The Prime Minister did repeatedly say that India has taken a number of steps including most recently during his visit to Houston where Indian companies are also investing in the United States and therefore it is a symbiotic relationship, one that involves
give and take.
After that the other topic that came up was a long discussion on terrorism. Prime Minster explained in some detail the challenges that we have faced on terrorism and particularly terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir over the last 30 years. Prime Minister underscored
to President Trump that 42 thousand lives have been lost to terror attacks in the last 30 years and that it is incumbent on the international community to join together to fight the scourge of terrorism.
Prime Minister also mentioned to President Trump that globally, from a number of developed countries as well, there have been significant number of fighters who have, or what they call foreign fighters which have participated in terrorist activities globally
and he pointed the fact that although we have the largest, probably the second largest population of citizens of the Muslim faith in India there has been a significantly lower level of participation and a lower level of radicalization in India than there has
been in almost any other part of the world and this is an important fact that ought to be recognized by the international community and President Trump acknowledged and took note of this fact.
Prime Minister also explained that we have shied away from talking to Pakistan however we expect that the overtures that Prime Minister has made over the years ought to have been reciprocated and none of them have been reciprocated beginning with the Prime
Minister’s invitation at the oath taking ceremony and then as Prime Minister said his unique trip to Lahore in December 2015 with minimum security. And Prime Minister explained to President Trump that immediately after that there has been an attack on the
Pathankot airbase and that the perpetrators of the crime have not been called to justice.
So there was a discussion on the impact that terrorism has on communities, has globally and Prime Minister and President Trump felt that we must both come together to fight terrorism. So essentially these were the two broad topics discussed. It was a brief
meeting because time is constrained on all sides. UN is a forum where all world leaders are meeting other world leaders and Prime Minister and President Trump had to attend the Secretary General’s lunch immediately after, so it was a meeting of about half
an hour or forty minutes and we believe that we are quite satisfied with the outcome of this meeting. We are optimistic that on the trade front we will see significant progress soon. We believe that we have given a good understanding to the US side about the
challenges that we face on account of terrorism in India including in Jammu & Kashmir and the meeting ended with Prime Minister’s reminder to President Trump that we would be looking forward to welcome him in India whenever he and his family decide to come.
So that was the gist of the meeting.
Before I take questions I also thought that I mention that after the lunch by the UN Secretary General, the first of the two plurilaterals will be taking place i.e. the meeting between the Prime Minister of India and the Heads of State and Governments of
the Pacific small island states which for us is important because these have been countries which are vulnerable, with which we have been doing a lot in terms of development assistance and which now play a critical role in our Indo-Pacific outlook or Indo-Pacific
vision.
Following that of course Prime Minister will be holding the event to commemorate the 150thanniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at the UN in the presence of a number of world leaders including the President of South Korea, the Prime Ministers of Singapore,
Bangladesh, New Zealand and Jamaica and the Secretary General himself. He will by remote do the inauguration and open the Gandhi Garden at the State University of New York and a stamp. Then he will end the day with accepting the award being given by the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation. So that is the rest of the program for today.
Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:
Thank you very much sir. We have time for few questions.
Question: What specifically trade deal for now, was it the ICT products because that is what we heard and medical devices and what does this mean for Mr. Goyal’s trip, is he going back and can we have a timeline on when
the next round of discussions will be undertaken?
Question: Rashtrapati Trump ne baat karte hue ye kahaa ki Pradhanmantri aur Imran Khan dono maamle ko handle kar sakte hain, kya unka indication tha ki Bharat aur Pakistan ko baatcheet ki table par aa jaana chaahiye?
(President Trump said that Prime Minister Modi and Imran Khan, both can handle the issue, so was it an indication from his side that now both India and Pakistan should come to a table for discussions?)
Question: Just wanted to understand what is our expectations from the US in terms of what we want on the trade front, do we want restoration of GSP, do we want doing away with some of the higher tariffs on aluminum and
steel products?
Foreign Secretary, Shri Vijay Gokhale: I would think that the characterization that you used, the words you used is – trade deal derailed, I think that is completely, if you pardon me, off the tracks. I think that is
perhaps a completely wrong interpretation that you can put on this exercise. In fact I would say that there is significant progress. These are issues which are complex, these are issues involving domestic industry on both sides, it involves jobs on both sides,
reconciling the gives and takes requires a certain amount of discussion and a certain amount of balance. We have made significant progress in that regard and we are quite confident that we will make further progress in the future. Indeed, at the meeting both
the Trade Representative Lighthizer and Commerce & Industry Minister Goyal expressed satisfaction with the discussions and both of them said that the other were sincere in moving this forward. So I would certainly think that the discussions that have taken
place in New York over the last two weeks are precisely the opposite of what you have described it as.
So far as our expectations on the trade front are concerned, obviously it is not possible for me to go into details nor is it appropriate to go into it when these are on the table for discussion but my understanding is that we expect a fair and reasonable
deal and we have laid out our requirements in that regard so has the US side. It is now a matter of negotiating between the two sides on individual issues to ensure that at the end of the day our requirement of access to the US markets and for Indian companies
and exporters to continue to do so as well as to do so with new products is secure and at the same time we also address some of the US side concerns regarding what they consider to be a trade deficit. I will not go any further than that.
Let me be quite clear, I don’t want to interpret remarks that have already been made in the public domain. That is for you as a media person to interpret it. What I am saying is simply that the focus of the discussion this time round was on the impact of
terrorism and the fact that it needs to be understood where the origin of that is and how we tackle it jointly. And in that regard, I repeat again, the Prime Minister has made it clear that we are not shying away from talks with Pakistan but for that to happen
we expect certain concrete steps to be taken and we do not find any effort by Pakistan taking those steps.
Question: Apne opening remarks mein Rashtrapati Trump ne ye kaha ki Kashmir par bhi baat hogi. Kashmir par Bharat apna stand baar-baar clear karta rahaa hai aur America bhi usko endorse karta rahaa hai lekin jis tarah
se Pakistan aakar kaan bharane kii koshish karta hai, kyaa kuch naye sawaal ya kyaa kuch nayaa jaananaa chaahaa Trump ne aur kya kuch Bharat ki taraf se kahaa gayaa?
(In his opening remarks President Trump said that discussion will also take place on Kashmir. India has time and again put its stand on Kashmir and America has also endorsed the same but the way Pakistan tries to traduce USA on the issue, so were there anything
new which USA wanted to know and what did India say in that regards?)
Question: Just a quick follow up on the trade timeline, is there a timeline that you can spell out for us?
Question: The question is again about President Trump’s remarks when he said that it is for Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Khan to talk it out. Is he giving up on mediation, did that mediation thing come up at
all in the talks?
Foreign Secretary, Shri Vijay Gokhale: We did not discuss the timeline on trade and nor am I in a position to give you any timeline on trade but what I can say is that we are optimistic that we will be able to conclude
an understanding or an agreement, whichever way you put it, fairly soon.
With regard to the issue of Jammu & Kashmir, I think I have already said what was discussed at the meeting and I don’t want to add anything or embellish it in any way.
I think as far as the issue of mediation is concerned the position of the government of India is very clear. If there are issues to be discussed with Pakistan, these will be discussed bilaterally. So I don’t wish to repeat again and again because this is
a position which the government has made very clear.
Question: Did the President give any indication to the Prime Minister on the issue of terrorism that he had put some kind of pressure on Imran Khan in his talks yesterday with him to basically eliminate terrorism from
Pakistani soil?
Question: The fact that the US President said that our Prime Minister can settle the issue of terrorism himself is also in some ways an indication of India’s growing global stature and the fact that India is well within
its rights to deal with Pakistan on the issue of terrorism?
Question: Mr. Trump said that he thinks Iran is actually on top of the list. That is complete opposition of what India thinks, any reaction to that?
Foreign Secretary, Shri Vijay Gokhale: I am not at liberty to disclose what President Trump conveyed regarding his conversations with other world leaders, I don’t think it is appropriate for me to say anything in that
regard, so I will desist from that.
I think India’s stature, India’s presence regionally and globally is something that is recognized by a number of countries including the United States. So I presume that the US effort to engage us and our efforts to engage United States is in recognition
of the fact that both of us have sizeable economies, sizeable presence, certainly in our region and shared values. So it is a given we have a strong base for Indo-US relations.
On Iran, this was not discussed by the two leaders because of shortage of time. So really I can’t comment any further in this regard.
Question Contd.: ……… Inaudible……….
Foreign Secretary, Shri Vijay Gokhale: I accept it that he mentioned it in the press play but due to shortage of time there was no discussion on the subject in the meeting.
Question: ………….. Inaudible……………
Foreign Secretary, Shri Vijay Gokhale: You will have to check with the US side whether they accept our stand or not.
Question: …………. What our Prime Minister conveyed and what was President Trump’s response and if you could quantify the talks, 30-35 minutes, 20-25 minutes, how much time was devoted to discussion on terrorism?
Foreign Secretary, Shri Vijay Gokhale: I would say half and half but I don’t think that the quantity of time matters, I think it is the quality of the discussion and I think we are satisfied with the quality of the discussion.
The Prime Minister put forward our perspective of the issue of terrorism and President Trump showed understanding and also recognized and accepted that this is a challenge that both of us face together.
As far as trade is concerned I have already said what I had to and I don’t think that the length of meeting in any way reflects the quality of the meeting. It is just that in UN leaders have multiple meetings and they have to move on.
Question: You said that Prime Minister said concrete action. Prime Minister kahte hain ki Goli aur Boli saath nahi chalega. When you say concrete action what exactly you mean?
Foreign Secretary, Shri Vijay Gokhale: Afghanistan par to koi baat nahii hui kyonki samay nahi thaa. Jahan tak thos kadam kii baat aati hai humne Pakistan ki side ko bataaya hai ki hum kyaa-kyaa kadam chaahte hain, wo
achhi tarah se jaante hain. Ab unki taraf unko karna hai ya nahi karna hai wo unke haath mein hai lekin wo acchi tarah se jaante hain ki kya-kya thos kadam hain.
(There was no discussion on Afghanistan as there was shortage of time. As far as concrete steps are concerned we have intimated Pakistan what steps are required by us and they know it very well. Now it is for them to decide whether
do go ahead with them or not, it is totally in their hands but they know quite well what we really mean by concrete steps.
Official Spokesperson, Shri Raveesh Kumar:
Thank you all very much for joining.
(Concludes)