President Trump speaks to PM Modi: US envoy

New Delhi, Feb 02: US President Donald Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, apparently in an attempt to address the sharp downturn in the relations between the two countries.

US ambassador to India Sergio Gor confirmed the phone conversation in a brief social media post.

The phone conversation took place on a day External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar began a three-day visit to Washington.

"President Trump just spoke with Prime Minister Modi. STAY TUNED," Gor said.

There is no comment yet by New Delhi on the conversation.

There have been efforts by the two sides in the last few weeks to address the strain in the relations and move forward on finalising the proposed bilateral trade deal.

Jaishankar's visit to the US is also largely seen in that context.

According to the external affairs ministry, he is visiting the US to attend the Washington-led ministerial meeting on critical minerals supply chain.

The India-US ties have been reeling under severe stress after Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent including a 25 per cent additional duties for India's purchase of Russian crude oil.

Apart from the tariff issue, the relations witnessed a downturn on a number of other issues that included Trump's claim of ending the India-Pakistan conflict in May last year and Washington's new immigration policy.

Official sources last week said India and the US have made "very significant" progress in the negotiations for the trade deal.