New Delhi: India on Friday described as inaccurate US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s remarks that the trade deal between the two countries could not fructify, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not call up President Donald Trump.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India and the US held a series of negotiations on the deal, and that New Delhi is committed to firming it up.
“We have seen the remarks. India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement as far back as February 13 last year,” he said.
Since then, the two sides have held multiple rounds of negotiation to arrive at a balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement, he said.
“On several occasions, we have been close to a deal. The characterisation of these discussions in the reported remarks is not accurate,” Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
He was responding to questions on Lutnick’s remarks.
“We remain interested in a mutually beneficial trade deal between two complementary economies and look forward to concluding it,” Jaiswal said.
“Incidentally, Prime Minister (Modi) and President Trump have also spoken on the phone on eight occasions during 2025, covering different aspects of our wide-ranging partnership,” he added.
India on Friday also said it is closely following developments relating to a proposed American legislation that seeks to impose up to 500 percent tariff on countries procuring Russian crude oil.
India and China are among a handful of countries which are procuring a significant volume of crude oil from Russia.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, the author of the bill, said this week that President Donald Trump has green-lighted the proposed legislation.
“We are aware of the proposed bill. We are closely following the developments,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing here. “Our position on the larger question of energy sourcing is well known.”
“In this endeavour, we are guided by the evolving dynamics of the global market and by the imperative to secure affordable energy from diverse sources to meet the energy security needs of our 1.4 billion people,” he said.
