India refutes US claim over bilateral deal failure

This marked one of the rare occasions when the Indian side has pushed back against remarks by a senior US official, the other being New Delhi’s rejection of Trump's claims to have brokered a ceasefire to end a brief but intense conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025.

- Jaiswal said.

People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that it would not be accurate to say that the two sides had reached a stage where the trade deal could have been finalized in the course of a single phone call. They also pointed out that the U S side had always made more demands whenever it seemed the two sides had reached some sort of understanding.