‘Modi-Trump Spoke 8 Times’: India Rubbishes Report Of US Trade Deal Collapse | India News

India-US Trade Agreement: India said multiple times on Friday that it was close to a trade deal with the US. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump spoke on the phone eight times last year and discussed different aspects of the far-reaching partnership between India and the US, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press conference.

Jaiswal also described US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s characterization of the India-US trade deal as “not accurate”.

Jaiswal said: “We have seen the statements. India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US by February 13 last year. So since then, the two sides have held multiple rounds of talks to arrive at a balanced, mutually beneficial trade agreement. We have come close to an agreement in many cases. The nature of these discussions, the statements reported are not accurate.”

“We remain interested in a mutually beneficial trade agreement between two complementary economies and look forward to finalizing it. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister and President Trump also spoke by phone eight times in 2025, discussing various aspects of our broader work,” he added.

“Meanwhile, the Prime Minister and President Trump also spoke on the phone eight times throughout 2025 to discuss different aspects of our far-reaching partnership,” Jiaswal said. he said.

#WRISTWATCH | Delhi | MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says: “We have seen these statements. India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US till February 13 last year. So since then, the two sides have held multiple meetings… pic.twitter.com/qBbDqjpqoL— ANI (@ANI) January 9, 2026

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What Did Lutnick Say About the India-US Trade Deal?

According to ANI, in a conversation with American venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya on Thursday (local time) as part of the ‘All In One Podcast’, Lutnick had said that the final step requires direct, leadership-level involvement while negotiating contracts and preparing the entire deal structure.

“I would negotiate the contracts and have the whole deal ready, but let’s be clear. This is his (Trump’s) deal. He’s closer. He’s doing it. Everything is set up, you have to have Modi, you have to call the President. They were uncomfortable doing that. That’s why Modi didn’t call. That Friday he left, the next week we agreed with Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, we announced a bunch of agreements,” the US Commerce Secretary said.

Lutnick went on to explain Trump’s broader trade negotiation strategy, describing it as a “ladder” model. According to him, the countries that moved first received the best possible terms, while the countries that followed later were offered increasingly higher rates.

Referring to the first trade agreement with the United Kingdom, Lutnick said Trump was repeatedly asked which country would be next and India’s name was repeatedly mentioned publicly.

He said India was given “three Fridays” to complete the deal, effectively putting it on a “short window”.

However, India failed to meet the deadline, according to Lutnick, and as a result, the United States continued to make trade agreements with many Asian countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and announced a series of agreements across Asia.

Those deals were negotiated at higher rates because the United States initially assumed India’s deal would be completed sooner, Lutnick said. When India later approached the US with the intention of proceeding, about three weeks after the deadline, it was told that the opportunity had passed.

Trump’s Tariffs

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on many countries that are major US exporters, including India and China.

Since August 2025, a 50 percent tariff has been imposed on goods entering the United States from India.

(with ANI entries)