Under the order of President Donald Trump, the US will scrap the preferential trade status granted to India and Turkey, news wires reported on Monday. The US trade chief's office said in a statement that Washington “intends to terminate India's and Turkey's designations as beneficiary developing countries under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme because they no longer comply with the statutory eligibility criteria”. Under this programme, certain products can enter the US duty-free if countries meet eligibility criteria including “providing the US with equitable and reasonable market access”.

India and Pakistan emerged at the bring of a full-fledged war as last Wednesday they both claimed they shot down each other's fighter jets, a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan territory for the first time since 1971 war, news wires reported. Both countries have ordered air strikes over the last two days, the first time in history, prompting world powers to urge restraint.

The European Union and India are "fully committed" to secure free trade agreement with discussions being currently on between the two sides, EU official says. The negotiations for the much-delayed pact, officially called the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), have been held up since May 2013, but have also witnessed many hurdles.