(Repeats story that ran late Friday.)
* Disputes over trade, e-commerce rules, Russian defence system
* Modi, Trump expected to meet at G20 in Japan
* India, U.S. build defence ties
By Sanjeev Miglani and David Brunnstrom
NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON, June 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will seek to further strengthen strategic ties with India during a visit next week despite increasing frictions over trade, data flows and arms from Russia, officials said.
Pompeo arrives in New Delhi on Tuesday for talks that are aimed at laying the ground for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the week at a G20 meeting in Japan.
India is embroiled in disputes with the United States over tariffs, Indian price caps on imported medical devices, most from the United States, and Indian rules on e-commerce that impose conditions on the operations of major U.S. companies such as Amazon and Walmart.
Another issue that has alarmed India is the possibility of U.S. restrictions on work visas for Indian professionals in retaliation for India's insistence on local data storage by big foreign firms, even though the State Department said on Thursday it had no such plan.
"U.S.-India trade ties, at least between our capitals, are certainly worsening. We both have leaders who look at trade as a zero-sum game," said Richard Rossow, a U.S.-India expert at Washington's the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Indian government led by Modi, who was re-elected last month with a big majority, says it has been trying to negotiate solutions to the disputes with the United States but that, as a developing country, it has to protect the interests of its people.
Trump has repeatedly criticised India for its high tariffs and last month raised the stakes with the withdrawal of a decades-old trade privilege.
Indian and U.S. officials said trade would be addressed during Pompeo's visit but emphasised the broader political and security relationship.
"There will be certain issues between us that will be on the table at all points of time," an Indian government official said. "But it should not detract from the overall direction of the relationship, which is positive."
ARMS SALES
Both countries are wary of the growing might of China.
U.S. officials said Pompeo will seek to advance the U.S. strategic partnership with India.
"India is a crucial partner in the Trump administration’s vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region; It shares our concerns about challenges to our shared interests in the region," a senior official of the U.S. State Department told reporters on Friday.