New Delhi: United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has stated that India failed to secure a priority trade agreement in early 2025 because prime minister Narendra Modi did not personally call President Donald Trump to close the deal.

In an interview with the All-In Podcast, Lutnick described a negotiation environment where the administration provided India with a specific deadline of “three Fridays” to reach an agreement. 

The Ministry of External Affairs has contested the accuracy of Lutnick’s account. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal responded to the commerce secretary’s remarks, stating that the characterisation of the trade discussions was “not accurate”.

“India and the US were committed to negotiating a bilateral trade agreement with the US as far back as 13 February last year,” Jaiswal said at the weekly briefing on Friday.

“Since then, the two sides have held multiple rounds of negotiation to arrive at a balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement.
On several occasions, we have been close to a deal.”

Jaiswal emphasised India’s continued interest in reaching an agreement. “We remain interested in a mutually beneficial trade deal between two complementary economies and look forward to concluding it,” he added. The spokesperson also clarified the level of engagement between the two leaders, noting that “Prime Minister [Modi] and President Trump have also spoken on phone on 8 occasions during 2025, covering different aspects of our wide-ranging partnership.”

‘Staircase’ model

Lutnick explained that the administration employs a “staircase” model for trade negotiations where the first country to sign receives the most favourable terms. “First stair gets the best deal,” Lutnick said. “You can’t get the best deal after the first guy went”. 

The United Kingdom moved first and established the base rate for subsequent deals. Lutnick noted that while he had negotiated the contracts and “set the whole deal up,” the final step required a direct conversation between the two leaders.........

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