New Delhi: New Delhi on Friday rejected the United States’ claim that the India-US trade deal did not materialise because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not speal directly to US President Donald Trump.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday he asked for Modi to call Trump to close the deal. However, India was “uncomfortable” doing it, “so Modi didn’t call”, stated Lutnick.
Without referring to Lutnick’s statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that PM Modi spoke to Trump eight times in 2025 amid strained bilateral ti
es over Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and tariff issues.
“We have seen the remarks. India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement as far back as February 13, 2025. Since then, the two sides have held multiple rounds of negotiations to arrive at a balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement. On several occasions, we have been close to a deal. The characterisation of these discussions in the reported remarks is not accurate,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a media briefing.
“We remain interested in a mutually beneficial trade deal between the two complementary economies. We look forward to concluding it. Incidentally, Prime Minister and President Trump have also spoken on the phone on 8 occasions during 2025, covering different aspects of our wide-ranging partnership,” Jaiswal stated.
Jaiswal added that Modi and Trump “have a friendly relationship” and have always addressed each other with mutual respect.