External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has said that challenges are an inevitable part of complex bilateral relationships, but the key lies in ensuring that the overall direction remains positive. Speaking in an interview after arriving in Washington for the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting today, he emphasised that the India-US relationship has demonstrated a consistent upward trend over the past 25 years. On the topic of trade, the minister said, they are in the middle of a very intricate trade negotiation and that he hoped it would come to a successful conclusion.