NEW DELHI: Ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, foreign minister S Jaishankar described the India-US relationship as being on an “upward trajectory”. “We see it as a glass that is 90% full, not 10% empty,” he said while addressing a press conference on 100 days of the new government.

Jaishankar indicated that a trade pact covering the areas of dispute was in sight. “My expectation is that some of the sharper edges would be addressed in some form in the not too distant future,” he added.

Asked about the trade dispute with the US, Jaishankar said, “As the relationship grows, there will be problems... the only way you don’t have trade problems is when you do not trade.” Saying the bilateral relationship enjoyed “good health”, he said, “There is no facet of the relationship today which has not gone upward over the period of 20 years.”

Modi will land in Houston on September 22, where he will address a diaspora event at a stadium which is likely to be attended by at least 50,000 people of Indian origin. US President Donald Trump said he would make an appearance at the event, which would be a first.

“This is a matter of great honour. We will welcome him in the warmest possible manner,” Jaishankar said. This would be Modi’s third diaspora event in the US, after the ones in New York City’s Madison Square Garden and in San Jose, California.

On some US politicians commenting on human rights concerns in J&K, the minister said he would meet many of them when he visits Washington in the coming days to explain India’s rationale behind rescinding Article 370. “It was a temporary provision which is not often used in the analysis of events... The provision had actually become dysfunctional. It was being arbitraged by some narrow set of people for their own gains. By doing so, they were impeding development and feeding a sense of separatism. The separatism was being utilised by Pakistan to carry out cross-border terrorism,” he said.