New Delhi:
India has firmly rejected remarks by the United States Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, suggesting that a long-discussed India-US trade agreement failed to materialise because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not place a phone call to US President Donald Trump.
The Ministry of External Affairs described the characterisation of the negotiations as “not accurate”, stressing that New Delhi and Washington have been engaged in sustained and detailed talks on a bilateral trade pact for well over a year.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the two sides had committed themselves to negotiating a trade agreement as early as February 13 last year, and had since held multiple rounds of negotiations aimed at reaching a mutually beneficial outcome.
“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. On several occasions, we have been close to a deal. The characterisation of these discussions in the reported remarks is not accurate.”
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