India rejects Lutnick claim on stalled US trade deal, flags concern over Minneapolis shooting

Public Lokpal
January 09, 2026

New Delhi: India on Friday firmly rejected remarks by US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who suggested that a proposed India–US trade deal had collapsed due to a lack of direct outreach from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to President Donald Trump, saying the characterisation of bilateral discussions was inaccurate.

Responding at the weekly media briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India and the United States had been close to concluding a trade agreement on several occasions and remained interested in a mutually beneficial deal. He pointed out that Modi and Trump had spoken on the phone eight times in 2025 alone.

“The characterisation of discussions in reported remarks is not accurate,” Jaiswal said, underlining that engagement between the two sides had been consistent and substantive.

The MEA’s comments came amid questions on a range of international developments involving the US, including a proposed American legislation that seeks to impose punitive tariffs of up to 500 per cent on countries purchasing Russian crude oil.

The bill has been authored by US Senator Lindsey Graham, who has claimed that President Trump has green-lighted the move.

“We are aware of the proposed bill and are closely following the developments,” Jaiswal said. He reiterated India’s long-stated position on energy sourcing, stressing that New Delhi’s decisions were guided by global market dynamics and the need to ensure affordable energy supplies.

“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.

India and China are among a small group of countries that continue to procure significant volumes of crude oil from Russia, a practice New Delhi has consistently defended on economic and energy security grounds.

The ministry also said it was closely monitoring the fatal shooting of a US citizen by an immigration and customs enforcement officer in Minneapolis earlier this week.

Expressing concern, Jaiswal noted that India had a large community in the United States and was following developments related to the incident.

On the neighbourhood front, the MEA voiced strong concern over a renewed spike in violence against minorities in Bangladesh, describing it as part of a “disturbing pattern of recurring attacks”.

Two members of the Hindu community were killed within 24 hours this week, taking the death toll to six in the past 18 days.

The victims were identified as Sarat Chakraborty Mani, a grocery shop owner killed in Narsingdi, and Hindu journalist Rana Pratap Bairagi, who was shot and later had his throat slit in Manirampur in Jashore.

“Such communal incidents need to be dealt with firmly,” Jaiswal said, adding that India was deeply concerned about law and order and the safety of minorities in Bangladesh.

PTI