Ahead of Donald Trump's speculated India visit, US forward team visits Taj Mahal

NEW DELHI: Ahead of President Donald Trump's speculated India visit next month, a security team responsible for his security paid a visit to the iconic Taj Mahal in Agra, reports said on Friday. According to reports, the forward US team comprising about 20-25 security officials, arrived at the world-famous monument of love for inspection, triggering speculations that Trump is indeed visiting the country in February.

The advance team arrived in Agra on a special flight and went back in the evening after visiting the Taj Mahal. The forward US team interacted with local officials and sought details about the venue, security forces deployment, cameras placement, public movement and details of the last visit of VVIPs to the monument. 

All this comes in the wake of reports that Trump is considering visiting India next month. This would be Trump's first visit to the world`s largest democracy since he took office three years ago, sources with knowledge of the matter had said on Tuesday.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking to build close ties with Washington, had previously invited Trump to attend India`s annual Republic Day parade later this month, but the US officials said it would clash with the president`s State of the Union address.

"There has been an open invitation for him to visit, both sides are working out the dates," one of the sources said. Another source said Trump could come in the second half of February and that he may visit a second city besides the national capital Delhi.

India and the United States have built close political and security ties, but in recent years trade frictions have come to the fore. Trump has frequently named India as one of the countries with the highest tariffs in the world and withdrawn a key trade concession for that reason.

The two sides have been trying to work out a new and limited trade pact on lowering tariffs, but these negotiations have run into problems over broader issues of data privacy and controls over e-commerce.