Modi, Trump Spoke 8 Times, Says India
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified that Prime Minister Modi and President Trump held eight telephone conversations last year, covering a range of bilateral issues, including trade.
By : Sridhar Kumaraswamy
Update: 2026-01-09 12:54 GMT
New Delhi: India on Friday dismissed as “inaccurate” remarks by United States commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, who claimed that a trade deal between India and the US was ready last year but could not be finalised because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not call US President Donald Trump in time.
New Delhi said that while India and the US had been close to concluding a trade agreement on several occasions, the “characterisation of such discussions” by Lutnick was not accurate. It also pointed out that Prime Minister Modi and President Trump had spoken on the phone as many as eight times last year.
Responding to the remarks at a weekly briefing on Friday evening, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India and the US had committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement as early as February 13 last year and had since held multiple rounds of talks to arrive at a balanced and mutually beneficial deal. “On several occasions, we have been close to a deal. The characterisation of these discussions in the reported remarks is not accurate,” he said, adding that India remained keen to conclude a mutually beneficial agreement between the two complementary economies.
Earlier, Lutnick had claimed that India was “uncomfortable” making the crucial phone call and that it was ready for a deal only “after the train had left the station”.
Meanwhile, India said it was closely monitoring developments related to a proposed Bill in the US Congress seeking to impose tariffs of up to 500 per cent on countries, including India, that import Russian oil. Jaiswal said India was aware of the Bill and reiterated that the country’s energy sourcing decisions were guided by global market dynamics and the need to ensure affordable energy for its 1.4 billion people.
President Trump reportedly expressed support on Thursday for the proposed legislation, known as the Russia Sanctions Act, which has garnered wide bipartisan backing in the US Congress. According to media reports, the Bill has secured 84 co-sponsors in the Senate and 151 in the House of Representatives. The US had already imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports in August last year, with half of it linked to India’s purchase of Russian oil.
India also said it would continue to advance the objectives of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) despite the US decision to withdraw from the grouping. The ISA, jointly launched by India and France on the sidelines of the 2015 Paris Climate Summit (COP21), aims to mobilise $1 trillion in solar investments by 2030. Over 100 countries are signatories to the alliance, with more than 90 having ratified full membership.