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Washington: US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is visiting India to take forward the discussions on the interim trade deal agreed to by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump in February.

“This week, Ambassador Jamieson Greer will travel to New Delhi, India, to meet with the Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, Piyush Goyal, and other senior Indian officials to discuss the historic US-India joint statement and the interim agreement as part of the broader US-India Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) negotiations,” the office of the US Trade Representative said in a statement on Sunday, June 21.

Trump and Modi met on the sidelines of the G-7 meeting in France last week where the US president said that India and the US were very close to finalising the trade agreement.

Trump also called Modi a tough negotiator and highlighted the personal rapport he enjoyed with the Indian prime minister.

The meeting between Greer and Goyal comes close on the heels of negotiator-level discussions on the pact held from June 2-4 in New Delhi.

Earlier, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal had said that the discussions between the two ministers are expected to be centred around giving final touches to the framework deal.

On June 5, Goyal said India and the US are moving towards closing all the open ends of the interim trade agreement, and both sides are likely to execute the “very, very vibrant” first phase of the BTA by the middle of next month.

Following the trip to India, Greer will travel to Uzbekistan, where he will meet President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the Head of the Presidential Administration Saida Mirziyoyeva, and Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev.

Greer’s discussions in Uzbekistan will focus on achieving fair, balanced, and reciprocal trade with the US.