Prospects of trade deal being announced during the president’s two-day visit have dimmed considerably despite his efforts to talk it up in public rallies and remarks

US President Donald Trump will raise concerns over rising trade barriers and tariffs during his India visit, which begins on Monday, but the onus for the announcement of a deal was “wholly” on India, senior Trump administration officials said Friday.

The official took aim specifically at Make in India, one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet program, for making “the protectionism concerns in India even greater.”

“Whether or not there will be an announcement on a trade package is, really, wholly dependent upon what the Indians are prepared to do,” said one of the officials, who blamed the failure of the two sides to come to an agreement on a spate of recent announcement that made “discussions bit more difficult”.

The US President is also expected to call for equal treatment of religious minorities and urge India and Pakistan to resolve their differences bilaterally.

“President Trump will talk about our shared tradition of democracy and liberty of freedom in both his public remarks and in private. He will particularly raise the religious freedom issue that’s very important for this (Trump)administration,” said the official.

Prospects of trade deal being announced during the president’s two-day visit have dimmed considerably despite his efforts to talk it up in public rallies and remarks. He has spoken of a “tremendous deal” that could be announced now or perhaps after the November elections, which appears more likely given the long list of US concerns that need to be addressed.

The United States has sought more access to Indian markets in dairy and poultry, removal of medical devices from price control regulation. The official argued that instead of decreasing trade barriers and tariffs that have been rising and citing recent tariffs on certain imports from the United States and continued “important divergences on e-commerce and digital trade”.