India, Jan. 7 -- The issue of steep US tariffs on Indian goods has once again hogged the headlines over the past few days with US President Donald Trump making range of remarks-- from fresh warning of steeper tariffs to implying his good ties with India and its willingness to reduce trade with Russia in order to avoid tariffs from the US.

Trump's latest remark over the India-US trade row came on Tuesday when he said, "I have a very good relationship with him (PM Modi). He's not that happy with me because they're paying a lot of tariffs now. But now they have reduced it very substantially, buying oil from Russia."

He made the remarks reportedly at a House GOP Member Retreat in Washington DC on Tuesday.

The US has imposed staggering tari...