The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to US President Donald Trump eight times in 2025 amid strained New Delhi-Washington DC’s ties over the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and tariff issues.
His remarks came shortly after US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s assertion that the US-India FTA negotiations had stalled because “PM Modi didn’t call President Trump”.
The remarks also came after US President Donald Trump backed a 500% tariff bill on Russian oil, which could impact India’s crude imports. The MEA stated that it is “fully aware of the proposed bill being discussed” and is ‘carefully monitoring’ all developments connected with it.
“India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement as far back as February 13, 2025. Since then, the two sides have held multiple rounds of negotiations 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,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a recent press briefing.
‘India remains interested in a mutually beneficial trade deal’
Jaiswal added that India remains interested in a trade deal which would be mutually advantageous to both India and US. “We look forward to concluding it. Incidentally, Prime Minister and President Trump’s [interactions] have…[covered] different aspects of our wide-ranging partnership,” he further said.
What else had Lutnick said?
Speaking with venture capitalist and entrepreneur Chamath Palihapitiya on his ‘All In’ podcast earlier, Lutnick had claimed he asked for PM Modi to call Trump to close the deal. However, he said India was “uncomfortable” doing it, “so Modi didn’t call”.
Lutnick said the US had implemented trade deals with Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, but he assumed the trade deal with India would be done before them.
“So now the problem is the deals came out at a higher rate. And then India calls back and says, ‘Oh, okay, we are ready’. I said, Ready for what?” Lutnick had said.
What is the status of India-US trade deal right now?
India and the US have not finalised a Free Trade Agreement, despite intensified negotiations over the past year aimed at reducing tariffs and expanding market access.
Talks have continued through multiple rounds of official and sector-level discussions, and both sides have reiterated commitment to reaching a mutually beneficial bilateral trade pact. Issues such as agricultural tariffs, market access, and broader diplomatic tensions, including recent US tariff increases on Indian goods, have complicated progress, according to Reuters.
In 2024, overall US goods exports to India were about $41.5 billion, and US imports from India were about $87.3 billion, reflecting the substantial trade volume between the two countries, according to official data.