TOI correspondent from Washington: Rejecting US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick’s claims that the bilateral trade deal was not signed as PM Modi did not call US President Donald Trump, the foreign ministry said the “characterisation” of the discussions was “not accurate” and reiterated that India was interested in negotiating a trade deal which was “mutually beneficial”. Lutnick had claimed on a podcast that India had “missed the train” as the PM didn’t call Trump, unlike leaders from several other countries, despite being given three weeks. The US official offered a blunt and unusually personal account, placing the blame squarely on timing, political hesitation in New Delhi, and what he described as Trump’s deliberately competitive approach to deal-making.

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Responding to the comments, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “We have seen the remarks. India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US as far back as Feb 13 last year… On several occasions, we have been close to a deal… We remain interested in a mutually beneficial trade deal between two complementary economies and look forward to concluding it.” India and US began talks for a trade deal last Feb and have so far held five rounds at the official level, apart from ministerial-level dialogue. “Incidentally, the PM and President Trump have also spoken on the phone on eight occasions in 2025, covering different aspects of our wide-ranging partnership,” Jaiswal said.