“Trust Your Country, Not Foreign Statements”: Piyush Goyal on India-US Trade Talks

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday urged people to trust India and its leadership, a day after the Ministry of External Affairs rejected claims that the India-US trade deal failed because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not call US President Donald Trump.

Speaking to the media, Goyal dismissed comments made by US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who had suggested that negotiations with India did not move forward while the United States reached deals with other countries. “Trust your country, your motherland, not foreign statements,” Goyal said in response.

The Union minister stressed that sensitive trade negotiations are not conducted in public. “The intricacies of a trade deal are discussed behind closed doors, not in front of the media,” he said.

Lutnick had earlier said that President Trump views trade agreements “like a staircase,” claiming that countries that move first get better deals. He added that India missed out by not being among the earliest to conclude talks.

However, the Ministry of External Affairs strongly rejected this version, calling it “not accurate.” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India and the US have been engaged in detailed discussions on a bilateral trade agreement for more than a year. 

He also clarified that Prime Minister Modi and President Trump spoke on the phone eight times in 2025, covering several aspects of the India-US partnership.

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