New Delhi has firmly rejected comments by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggesting that a long-discussed India–United States trade agreement failed to materialize because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not place a phone call to U.S. President Donald Trump.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs described that characterization as “not accurate,” emphasizing that New Delhi and Washington have been engaged in sustained and detailed negotiations on a bilateral trade pact for more than a year.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said both sides committed to pursuing a trade agreement as early as February last year and have since held multiple rounds of talks aimed at reaching a mutually beneficial outcome.
“We have seen the remarks. India and the U.S. were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement as far back as February 13 last year,” Jaiswal said. “On several occasions, we have been close to a deal. The characterisation of these discussions in the reported remarks is not accurate.”
He added that India remains keen to conclude an agreement. “We remain interested in a mutually beneficial trade deal between two complementary economies and look forward to concluding it.”
Jaiswal also pushed back against suggestions that political communication between the two countries had broken down, noting that Modi and Trump spoke frequently over the past year.
“Prime Minister Modi and President Trump have spoken on the phone on eight occasions during 2025, covering different aspects of our wide-ranging partnership,” he said.
The response followed remarks by Lutnick in a recent podcast interview in which he claimed negotiations with India failed to reach a conclusion while the United States moved ahead with trade agreements with other countries.
Lutnick likened trade negotiations to a “staircase,” arguing that countries that move first secure better terms. He said that after a trade deal with the United Kingdom, India was publicly identified as a potential next partner, but failed to finalize an agreement within a limited timeframe.
According to Lutnick, while U.S. officials handled technical negotiations, the final political approval rested with Trump. He claimed that Washington expected a direct call between Modi and Trump at the final stage of talks, and suggested discomfort on India’s part prevented that from happening.
Indian officials have categorically denied that account, maintaining that negotiations have been ongoing, substantive, and close to completion at several points, and that high-level political engagement between the two leaders has remained consistent throughout the process.