Continued from P1

"We met in Washington last time... since then we've been moving forward together. It is a joy for us that our teams are working together, we're moving forward at a fast pace," Modi said. Trump described the meeting as "great" as heaped praise on Modi. "I think India plays a big role in everything as long as he (PM Modi) is the leader. India is going to play a big role," Trump said in response to a question on whether New Delhi has a role to play in West Asia. "As long as I am at the White House, India has a friend in the US," he said, answering a question on the strain in India-US ties. Responding to a question on the Indian seafarers killed in the conflict zone, Trump said he had been briefed about the incident and added that efforts were underway to address the issue. "I heard about that. It is a rough profession. We (PM Modi and him) are reworking at it," he said.

India had protested the attacks after the vessels carrying the Indian crew was attacked thrice within a week as ministry of external affairs had summoned US envoy in Delhi.

India has been pressing the United States for months for a Trump trip, potentially as part of a meeting including Japan and Australia.