Bernie Sanders needles Trump over $3 billion defence deal with India

New Delhi: US Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democratic party's frontrunner for the US Presidential elections, on Tuesday said that the US should partner India to fight climate change instead of selling billions of dollars' worth of weapons as announced by President Donald Trump on his first official visit.

"Instead of selling $3 billion in weapons to enrich Raytheon, Boeing and Lockheed, the United States should be partnering with India to fight climate change. We can work together to cut air pollution, create good renewable energy jobs, and save our planet," Mr Sanders tweeted.

The 78-year-old senator is one of the staunchest critics of Mr Trump and has cemented his grip on the top spot in the race to find a challenger to the Republican party leader in the November 3 election.

After a rousing reception on Monday, the US president Donald Trump sat down with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks on arms sales and festering trade disputes that have strained ties in recent months.

In his speech to more than 1 lakh people at the just-constructed world's largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, Mr Trump announced $3 billion worth of defence deals including for navy helicopters and later said India and the United States were making progress on trade, energy and military deals.

"I look forward to you explaining to the media later on the progress we've made on trade," Mr Trump said, sitting alongside PM Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The two countries have been trying to close differences over farm goods, medical devices, digital trade and proposed new tariffs.

Trump also said he said he looked forward to PM Modi speaking more "about the progress we've made on fighter jets...and energy."