India, Jan. 14 -- External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a telephone conversation on Tuesday, discussing ongoing negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement and their shared interest in strengthening economic cooperation.

Sharing details of the call, US Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement that Secretary Rubio exchanged New Year greetings with Jaishankar and congratulated India on the passage of the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill.

Pigott said Rubio expressed interest in leveraging the legislation to deepen US-India civil nuclear cooperation, expand opportunities for American companies, advance shared energy securit...