‘Not accurate’: India rejects US commerce secy’s claim that ‘PM didn’t call Trump’ on trade deal

India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement as far back as February 13 last year, said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal

• India rejects US claim that trade deal failed due to Modi not calling Trump
• MEA says India and US held multiple rounds of trade negotiations
• PM Modi and Trump had eight phone calls in 2025 discussing India-US partnership

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India on Friday firmly rejected remarks made by the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, who claimed that the India-US trade deal did not materialise as Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not place a call to US President Donald Trump.

Responding to the comments, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen the remarks. India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement as far back as February 13 last year. Since then, the two sides have held multiple rounds of negotiation 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," the MEA said.

Jaiswal said India remains interested in a mutually beneficial trade arrangement between two complementary economies and is looking ahead to finalising it.

"Incidentally, the prime minister and President Trump have also spoken on the phone on eight occasions during 2025, covering different aspects of our wide-ranging partnership," he said.

The response came after US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a podcast that a trade deal with India did not go through because PM Modi did not call US President Donald Trump to finalise it.

Lutnick said he had asked the Indian Prime Minister to speak directly to Donald Trump, but alleged that India was “uncomfortable” with the idea. “So Modi didn’t call,” he remarked, claiming that India “wasn’t ready” to conclude the agreement then.

He further went on to explain Trump's broader trade negotiation strategy, describing it as a "staircase" model. According to him, countries that moved first received the best possible terms, while those that followed later were offered progressively higher rates.

Apart from high tariff, the India-US ties are reeling under strain on a number of other issues that include Trump's claim of ending the India-Pakistan conflict in May last year and Washington's new immigration policy.