India, July 12 -- The expectations for a promised phase-two trade pact with China were further dampened when President Donald Trump alleged that the 'relationship with China has been severely damaged', accusing Beijing over the handling of the novel coronavirus, which continues to spread rapidly in the United States, a leading daily reported. "I don't think about it now," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, where he criticized China's response to the new coronavirus.

"They could have stopped the plague, they could have stopped it, they didn't stop it," he added. When the US and China inked their trade deal in January, the two sides described the pact as a first-phase agreement, to be followed by new negotiations toward a more expa...