India on Friday strongly rejected remarks by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick regarding the stalled India–U.S. trade deal, firmly dismissing any suggestion that negotiations faltered due to insufficient political engagement from New Delhi. The country made clear that its negotiating record and strategic autonomy would not be questioned despite growing international pressure.
At the same time, New Delhi reaffirmed its commitment to finalizing a “mutually beneficial” trade agreement between the two “complementary economies,” noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump held eight phone conversations in 2025 addressing various aspects of bilateral ties.
Calling Lutnick’s comments a “mischaracterisation,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that India and the U.S. have been engaged in sustained, substantive negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement since February 13 of last year, with multiple rounds of talks bringing the sides close to agreement on several occasions.
“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 negotiations to arrive at a balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement,” MEA spokesperson Randhir 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.
India made it clear that it remained keen to conclude a trade pact between what it described as “two complementary economies”, but underlined that such an agreement must be equitable and negotiated on its own merits, not through public pressure or political attribution.
The response comes amid rising trade frictions following repeated warnings from US President Donald Trump over India’s purchases of Russian oil and the threat of steep tariffs. Lutnick, speaking on a podcast, had claimed the trade deal failed to materialise because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not personally call Trump to close it, suggesting India was “uncomfortable” doing so.
Indian officials pushed back strongly against that narrative, pointing to sustained engagement at the highest political level. “PM Modi and President Trump have spoken on the phone on eight occasions during 2025, covering different aspects of our wide-ranging partnership,” a senior MEA official said, countering claims of any communication gap between the two leaders.
Lutnick’s remarks followed Trump’s assertion earlier this week that Modi was aware of Washington’s unhappiness over India’s continued imports of Russian crude and that the US could raise tariffs on Indian goods “very quickly”.
The warning came even as the two countries were in the midst of negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement, with six rounds of talks already completed. These include a framework to address the 50 per cent tariffs imposed on certain Indian exports to the US.
In his podcast comments, Lutnick said the US had concluded trade deals with Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam first, assuming India’s agreement would be finalised earlier. He claimed those deals were struck at higher rates, leaving New Delhi at a disadvantage when it later indicated readiness to proceed.
Source: Shafaqna India
