India, China no longer developing nations, they are ripping us off: Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has urged the World Trade Organisation (WTO) not to consider India and China as developing nations as they were ripping the US off.

He further added that both the countries are no longer developing nations since they are taking advantage of the tag given to them by the WTO.

"WTO what a group it is .. that's a real beauty... they consider China as a developing nation... we wrote a letter to the WTO... we don't consider China as a developing nation ... We don't consider India a developing nation anymore because they are ripping us off," President Trump was quoted as saying.

The statement comes at a time when the US and China are currently involved in a protracted trade war after the Trump administration imposed economic sanctions on Chinese goods and Beijing retaliated.

Trump has also been critical of India and termed it as 'tariff king' for levying 'tremendously high' duties on US products.

Trump's remarks have come when India-US are working closely to strike out a trade deal. President Trump during his recent meeting with PM Modi in US had said that India-US will soon have a trade deal.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is currently in Washington DC, while making a statement on India-US trade deal on Friday said, "I hope to have an agreement sooner. I know the intensity with which negotiations are going on. Few issues on which there could be differences are being sorted out."

#WATCH Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Washington DC, on India-USA trade deal: I hope to have an agreement sooner. I know the intensity with which negotiations are going on.Few issues on which there could be differences are being sorted out pic.twitter.com/hVglZn5iUo

— ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2019