India on Friday rejected the United States Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's claims that the India-US bilateral trade deal did not fructify since Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to call US President Donald Trump. India called Lutnick's comments inaccurate.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said they have taken note of Lutnick's remarks and "India and the United States were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement as far back as February 13 last year."
"Since then, the two sides have held multiple rounds of negotiations to reach a balanced, mutually beneficial trade agreement. On several occasions, we have been close to a deal. The characterisation of these discussions, the reported remarks, is not accurate," Jaiswal said.
Adding India remains interested in a mutually beneficial trade deal, Jaiswal said Modi and Trump spoke on the phone on eight occasions in 2025, covering different aspects of India-US wide-ranging partnership."
Jaiswal added that India is closely following developments regarding rumoured US bill to impose additional tariffs for buying Russian oil. The proposed bill reportedly seeks to impose up to 500 per cent tariff on countries procuring Russian crude oil.
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India and China are major importers of crude oil from Russia. "We are aware of the proposed bill. We are closely following the developments," Jaiswal said. He added, "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," PTI reported quoting the spokesperson.
On New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's comments regarding the Umar Khalid case, Jaiswal said, "We expect public representatives to be respectful of the independence of the judiciary in other democracies. Expressing personal prejudices does not behove those in office. Instead of such comments, it would be better to focus on the responsibilities entrusted to them."