India Trade Deal To Be Sorted Out When Russian Oil Purchase Ends: US Commerce Secretary

The trade deal with India will be "sorted out" once New Delhi stops its purchase of Russian crude oil, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday.

Lutnick, while speaking to CNBC, said India has to "stop buying Russian oil". The remarks come days after the top US official told Bloomberg that India will say "sorry" and return to the negotiating table "in a month or two".

Lutnick had told Bloomberg that Washington is "always willing to talk" and it was "wrong for India" to increase purchases of Russian oil.

Notable, the India-US ties plunged following the publicly issued remarks by US President Donald Trump and his officials, accusing India of supporting the "Russian war machine" by buying crude from Moscow amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

From Aug. 27 onwards, Indian goods entering the US are subjected to an additional 25% levy. This takes the cumulative tariff on India to 50%, which is at par with Brazil and highest among all major US trading partners.

Trump, however, recently shifted his tone on India, describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "friend" with whom he plans to speak soon. Modi reciprocated the gesture on social media platform X, calling the US as a valued ally of India.

Trump’s comment signal relations between the two countries are thawing. From calling India ‘a dead economy’ a few weeks ago, he has recently indicated that the US and India will remain close partners.