India on Friday rejected US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s statement claiming that the trade deal with Washington was not finalised owing to PM Narendra Modi not calling US President Donald Trump, saying the two leaders have spoken on eight occasions. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the characterisation of negotiations in recent remarks by a senior US official was “not accurate”.
Howard Lutnick claimed that New Delhi had “missed the train” to sign the agreement and that PM Modi “did not call US President Trump” after the deal had been set up.
Reacting to Lutnick’s statement, Jaiswal said, “On several occasions, we have been close to a deal. The characterisation of these discussions in the reported remarks is not accurate. We remain interested in a mutually beneficial trade deal between two complementary economies, and look forward to concluding it. Incidentally, Prime Minister and President Trump have also spoken on the phone on 8 occasions during 2025, covering different aspects of our wide-ranging partnership.”
This comes in the backdrop of the US seeking to raise tariffs on Russia’s trading partners to 500 per cent to build pressure on Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. Jaiswal, in the press briefing, said “we are aware” of the development.
US Senator Lindsey Graham said that Trump “greenlit” the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025 that would allow the US to impose secondary tariffs and sanctions on countries that purchase Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports. The legislation proposes a 500 per cent tariff on secondary purchase and reselling of Russian oil.
“This Bill would give President Trump tremendous leverage against countries like China, India and Brazil to incentivise them to stop buying the cheap Russian oil that provides the financing for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s bloodbath against Ukraine,” Graham said.
Currently, India is facing the steepest US tariffs of 50 per cent for its energy imports from Russia, while the Trump administration has repeatedly pinned the blame on New Delhi fuelling Russia’s campaign in Ukraine. A day after the US raised tariffs in September, senior trade advisor Peter Navarro described the Russia-Ukraine war as “Modi’s war.”
