New Delhi, Jan 13 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday held a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio focusing on cooperation in areas of trade, critical minerals, nuclear energy and defence.

The Jaishankar-Rubio phone call came a day after newly-appointed US ambassador Sergio Gor said there will be some contact between the two sides on the trade issue.

The external affairs minister said he had a "good conversation" with Rubio and that they agreed to remain in touch.

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

"Agreed to remain in touch on these and other issues," he added.

The India-US ties witnessed a major downturn after President Donald Trump slapped a whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, including a 25 per cent punitive levy over Russian oil purchases.

Both sides have held multiple rounds of negotiations last year to firm up a bilateral trade deal. However, it could not be sealed yet largely in view of Washington's demands to open up India's farm and dairy sectors.

In an address at the US embassy on Monday, Gor said India and the US are actively engaged on the proposed trade deal.

"Both sides continue to actively engage. In fact, the next call on trade will occur tomorrow," he said.

In his remarks, Gor also said that no country is as essential as India to the United States.

"No partner is more essential than India. In the months and years ahead, it is my goal as ambassador to pursue a very ambitious agenda. We will do this as true strategic partners, each bringing strength, respect and leadership to the table," he said.

The phone conversation between Jaishankar and Rubio also came on a day Trump announced that a 25 per cent tariff will be levied on countries doing business with Iran.

Sources in the Indian government said the new tariff is expected to have "minimal impact" on India as volume of trade between India and Iran is currently less than USD 2 billion.

For India, Iran does not even figure in the top 50 global trading partners, the sources said.

Last year, India's trade with Iran was USD 1.6 billion, which is approximately 0.15 per cent of India's total trade, they said. PTI MPB KVK KVK

India-US ties: ministers discussed trade, critical minerals, nuclear cooperation and defence, agreeing to stay in touch. Senior India and US officials held a telephone conversation agreeing to remain in contact to advance cooperation on trade, critical minerals, nuclear energy, defence and energy, set against ongoing bilateral trade negotiations and recent US tariff measures that have strained commercial ties; Indian sources judged a new tariff on trade with Iran to have minimal impact due to low trade volumes.