Serious CECA Leader Modi refused to call Trump hence no trade deal!

[Pinkieslut]

India-US trade deal stalled after Modi did not call Trump, Lutnick says​

Reuters
Fri, 9 January 2026 at 4:40 PM SGT
2 min read

U.S. President Trump holds a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Modi at the White House in Washington D.C.​

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a joint press conference with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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NEW DELHI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - India's trade pact with the United States was delayed because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not make a telephone call to President Donald Trump to close ‌a deal they were negotiating, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Friday.

The trade talks ‌fell apart last year and Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods in August to 50%, the world's highest rate, including a levy of 25% in retaliation for India's purchases of Russian oil.

"It's all set up and you ⁠have got to have ‌Modi call the President. And they were uncomfortable doing it," Lutnick said in an interview on the All-In podcast, ‍a U.S. show by four venture capitalists that focuses on business and technology.

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"So Modi didn't call."

The comments came after Trump stepped up the pressure for talks with a warning this week that tariffs could rise further unless ‌India curbs its Russian oil imports.

That step pushed the Indian rupee to a record low and spooked investors waiting for progress in two-way negotiations for a trade deal that remains elusive.

India still seeks a tariff rate between Washington's offers to Britain and Vietnam that had formerly been agreed ⁠but the offer has expired, Lutnick added.

India's trade ministry did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment on Lutnick's remarks.

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New Delhi and Washington were very close to a trade deal last ‍year but a ⁠communication breakdown led to the collapse of any potential pact, Reuters reported.

It cited an Indian government official involved in the talks as ⁠saying that Modi could not have called Trump, for fear that a one-sided conversation ‌would put him on the spot.

(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya in ‌New Delhi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

 

[Leongsam]

This shows just how powerful Trump is. Don't mess with the Don you'll live to regret it.

I hope he swoops in and arrests that crook Ah Neh for all the fake degree CECAs he's exported to the USA over the last decade or more.