India on Friday dismissed as “not accurate” remarks by US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who claimed that the proposed India–US trade deal failed to materialise because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not personally speak to US President Donald Trump.
Responding to media queries, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India and the United States had been engaged in negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement for over a year and that the talks had progressed through several rounds.
“We have seen the remarks. India and the US committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement as early as February 13 last year. Since then, multiple rounds of discussions have taken place to arrive at a balanced and mutually beneficial agreement. On several occasions, we were close to a deal. The characterisation of these discussions in the reported remarks is not accurate,” Jaiswal said at a briefing.
He added that India remains committed to concluding a mutually beneficial agreement between the two economies and is keen to take the negotiations forward.
Jaiswal also pointed out that Prime Minister Modi and President Trump have spoken by phone eight times in 2025, covering a wide range of issues related to the bilateral partnership.
India’s response came hours after Lutnick said that negotiations on the India–US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) stalled because Modi did not personally call Trump to finalise the pact.
Trade talks broke down last year, following which the Trump administration raised tariffs on Indian imports to 50 per cent in August. The increase included a 25 per cent levy linked to India’s continued purchases of Russian oil, along with an additional 25 per cent in reciprocal tariffs.
“It was all set up, and Modi needed to call the President. They were uncomfortable doing it, so Modi didn’t call,” Lutnick said in an interview on the All-In podcast.
His comments came as Trump stepped up pressure on New Delhi this week, warning that tariffs could be raised further unless India scaled back its imports of Russian oil. The warning unsettled markets, pushing the rupee to a record low and dampening investor expectations of progress in the stalled trade talks.
Lutnick said India was seeking a tariff rate between those offered earlier to Britain and Vietnam, but noted that the proposal had since expired.
Where the trade deal stands
Negotiations on the long-pending trade agreement have made limited progress despite months of engagement. While earlier reports suggested disagreements over market access, including agriculture, Lutnick indicated that personal diplomacy played a key role in the deadlock.
He said the United States had stepped back from the earlier understanding. “We are not thinking about that deal anymore,” he said, though he added that discussions could resume in the future.
Drawing a comparison, Lutnick cited Britain’s approach, recalling how UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Trump ahead of a deadline, leading to a deal being finalised shortly after.
Using a trading analogy, he said India ended up on “the wrong side of the seesaw,” though he acknowledged that delays also reflected India’s complex political and parliamentary processes. “India will work it out,” he added.
Strain in bilateral ties
Reports last year said Trump had attempted to speak with Modi several times in July amid rising tensions over tariffs linked to India’s Russian oil imports. Relations were further strained after Modi rejected Trump’s claim of mediating an India–Pakistan ceasefire and did not endorse his Nobel Peace Prize bid.
Contact between the two leaders later resumed with a birthday call in September, followed by conversations on Diwali and in December, leaving the future of the trade deal uncertain as negotiations continue into this year.