- US Commerce Secretary Lutnick's portrayal of India-US trade talks is inaccurate, says MEA
- MEA states Modi and Trump spoke eight times in 2025 on bilateral partnership issues
- Lutnick claimed Modi delayed trade deal by not calling Trump to finalise the pact
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's portrayal of trade talks with India is "not accurate", the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday, during a press briefing.
The MEA reaction came after Lutnick blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the delay in India-US trade deal, claiming that he "failed" to call US President Donald Trump to finalise the pact last year.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, while noting that the ministry "has seen" Lutnick's remarks, said New Delhi and Washington were close to a trade deal on "several occasions" last year.
"The characterisation of these discussions, the reported remarks, is not accurate. We remain interested in a mutually beneficial trade deal between two complementary economies, and look forward to concluding it," Jaiswal said.
The MEA also pointed out that PM Modi and President Trump have spoken on the phone on eight occasions in 2025, covering various aspects of the India-US partnership.
Earlier, Lutnick said while speaking at a podcast that India was asked to seal the trade deal last year, and was given "three Fridays" to arrange a phone call between Modi and Trump. However, New Delhi was "uncomfortable" in setting up the call, he claimed.
“So I said — You got to have Modi, it's all set up. You have to have Modi call the president. And they were uncomfortable doing it... So, Modi didn't call,” the top Trump aide said on the All-In Podcast released on Friday.
India is among the last major economies to yet to sign a trade deal with the US. According to Lutnick, Washington had expected to seal a pact with New Delhi before those with Vietnam and Indonesia.
Indian Exporters Risk Losing US Orders As Trade Talks DitherIndia is currently the most-tariffed trading partner of the US, with its imports being subjected to levies as high as 50%. Initially, New Delhi was hit with tariffs of 25% in the first week of August. By end of that month, the tariffs were doubled to "penalise" the country for its continued purchase of Russian crude oil.
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