'Don't build in India': US President Trump tells Apple CEO Tim Cook

US President Donald Trump has told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he does not want him "building in India" and that "India can take care of themselves".

Trump made the comments during a business roundtable in Doha, Qatar, on his Mideast tour, first discussing Apple's plans to build manufacturing plants for its iPhone there.

The US President said he had a "little problem" with Tim Cook. "I said to him, my friend, I am treating you very good. You are coming up with $500 billion, but now I hear you are building all over India. I don't want you building in India. You can build in India, if you want to take care of India because India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world, so it is very hard to sell in India," the US President said.

Also, President Trump has suggested that India has offered to drop tariffs on US goods to zero, something not immediately acknowledged by New Delhi.

“It's very hard to sell into India and and they've offered us a deal with what basically they're willing to literally charge us no tariff,” Trump said.

India is a close partner of the US and is part of the Quad, which is made up of the US, India, Japan and Australia, and is seen as a counterbalance to China's expansion in the region. With AP inputs