Trump says Pakistan-India dispute is settled

DOHA: United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday that hostilities between Pakistan and India were settled, after he urged the two countries to focus on trade instead of war.

He told US troops at a base in Qatar during a Gulf tour that Pakistan and India were happy with that.

The nuclear-armed neighbours halted their worst fighting in nearly three decades after agreeing to a ceasefire on Saturday, following diplomacy and pressure from the United States.

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India trade deal

Trump also discussed a trade deal offered by India on Thursday that proposed “no tariffs” for American goods, while expressing his dissatisfaction with Apple’s (AAPL.O) plans to invest in India.

New Delhi is seeking to clinch a trade deal with the US within the 90-day pause announced by Trump on April 9 on tariff hikes for major trading partners.

“It is very hard to sell in India, and they are offering us a deal where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariffs,” Trump said in a meeting with executives in the Qatari capital Doha.

Reuters has reported that New Delhi has offered to reduce duties to zero on 60 per cent of tariff lines in a first phase of the deal under negotiation with Washington, while offering preferential access to nearly 90 per cent of the merchandise India imports from the US.

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