NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs on Friday termed the remarks made by US secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick that “PM Modi’s reluctance to call Trump” was the reason behind the delay in the trade deal between the United States and India, as “inaccurate.”In a media briefing MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “PM Modi and President Trump have spoken on eight occasions in 2025.”
While responding to a question about the claims made by Lutnick in a podcast where he had blamed the delay in the US-India trade agreement on New Delhi, saying that the States waited for PM Modi’s call for too long, Jaiswal dismissed the claims as “inaccurate characterizations.”He mentioned the multiple rounds of negotiation between the two countries and how on several occasions a “deal was close.”Also read: Between the staircase and the see-saw; Did PM Modi’s reluctance to call Trump cost India a trade deal?“We have seen the remarks, India and the United States were committed to a bilateral trade agreement as far back as February 13, 2025. Since both sides have had multiple rounds of negotiations to arrive at a mutually beneficial deal. On several occasions we have been close to a deal. The characterisation of these discussions in reported remarks is not accurate,” Jaiswal said. He further went on to say India remains committed to a mutually ‘beneficial’ trade agreement, also rebutting Lutnick’s claims. “We remain committed to mutually beneficial deal between two complementary economies. Incidentally, PM Modi and President Trump have spoken on eight occasions in 2025, covering different aspects of our wide ranging partnership,” he said.Speaking at the All-In Podcast, hosted by Chamath Palihapitiya, Lutnick said, “Let’s be clear, it’s his deal. He’s the closer. He does the deal. So I said, you got to have Modi. It’s all set up. You have to have Modi…they were uncomfortable doing it.”Also read: ‘Hug hug na raha’- Congress takes dig at PM Modi; reacts to stalled India–US trade deal “So Modi didn’t call,” he claimed. This statement comes after US President on Thursday, approved a bill that can impose at least 500 per cent tariffs for countries buying Russian oil, aiming to “punish them.” US senator Lindsey Graham said that the bill would give US tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivize them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil. Go to Source