New Delhi, Dec. 12 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in enhancing bilateral trade, people familiar with the matter said amid emerging signals that the two sides may be inching towards a trade deal to address months of strained ties over Washington's trade and tariff policies. The two leaders spoke on phone for the first time since October as the new US deputy trade representative, Rick Switzer, concluded a two-day visit to India, during which he engaged with top officials, including commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal. "Had a very warm and engaging conversation with President Trump. We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi said on social media after the phone conversation. A readout from the Indian government said the leaders reviewed the "steady progress" in bilateral relations but didn't provide any details. The people cited above said on condition of anonymity that the two leaders emphasised the importance of sustaining momentum in efforts to enhance bilateral trade. The people said they also discussed ways to expand cooperation in critical technologies, energy, defence and security, and other priority areas key to the implementation of the India-US COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce and Technology), which was unveiled when they last met face-to-face in Washington in February. The leaders discussed regional and global developments and agreed to work closely to address shared challenges and advance common interests, the people said. The leaders also expressed satisfaction at the steady strengthening of bilateral cooperation, they said. As Switzer engaged Indian officials in New Delhi, commerce minister Piyush Goyal said in Mumbai that a trade deal will be done when both India and the US stand to benefit from it and that the US Trade Representative should "be signing on the dotted line" if Washington believes it has received the "best offer" from New Delhi. Goyal's remarks were a response to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer's comments on Wednesday that Washington had received the "best ever" offer from New Delhi for a bilateral trade deal. However, Greer also said India is a "difficult nut to crack" in the context of New Delhi's resistance to importing US agricultural goods. "His [Greer's] happiness is very much welcome. I do believe that if they are very happy, they should be signing on the dotted line," Goyal said. Goyal also said that the negotiations with the US are "progressing well" and the two sides had "substantive discussions" over several rounds of negotiations. "A deal is only done when both sides stand to benefit. And I don't think we should ever negotiate with deadlines or hardstops because you tend to make mistakes," he said. Goyal clarified that Switzer's ongoing visit to India is not a formal round of negotiation on the Bilateral Trade Agreement and is more of a familiarisation exercise after the US official assumed charge of his post three months ago. India-US relations fell to their lowest point in almost two decades earlier this year when Trump slapped 25% reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods, and followed it up with a 25% penalty over Russian oil purchases. The 50% US tariffs are the highest globally. Meanwhile, chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said on Thursday that he expected the trade deal with the US to be concluded by the end of the fiscal year....