India, Jan. 13 -- External affairs minister S Jaishankar and his US counterpart Marco Rubio on Tuesday discussed cooperation in trade, defence, and security amid months of strain in bilateral relations, largely linked to differences over trade-related matters.

The phone conversation between the two foreign ministers came a day after US ambassador-designate Sergio Gor announced that the two sides remain actively engaged in concluding a trade deal and that the "next call on trade" would occur on Tuesday.

"Just concluded a good conversation with @SecRubio. Discussed trade, critical minerals, nuclear cooperation, defence and energy," Jaishankar said in a social media post.

The two sides agreed to "remain in touch on these and other issues"...